The Business
by Vinyufan300
Summary: After taking a short fall down the wrong path, Yuffie finds her friends and gets her life back together. She gets a job at MidgarFashion as an over the phone sales rep, but can hardly stand working under the strict, no nonsense president Vincent Valentine
1. Getting Back on Track

The Business

(Chapter One)

**Getting Back on Track**

The sky light up as a bolt of lightning tore through the sky striking something in the distance. The rain seemed to come down harder. For the past year and a half it felt like a huge rain cloud had been following her around. Constantly pounding down on her.

(knock knock knock KNOCK)

Giggling could be heard even from the outside. The teenager's eyes lit up with hope, knowing that particular giggle _very_ well. She had finally found them!

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"Oh! Stop!" Aerith giggled again. "Really, Zack stop. I think someone's at the door." Aerith pushed Zack's face away from her neck. He licked his warm, red lips and grinned. "C'mon, Airy… I've been waiting now for over five mon…" His ears perked up as he too finally heard the knocking. "Guess you're right…" She smiled and planted a quick peck on the tip of his nose before sliding off her vanity desk that Zack had her propped up on. She hummed lightly as she skipped down the hallway in her long pink night gown. She swiftly crossed the living room to the front door and looked a bit shocked upon seeing a sopping wet Yuffie standing at her door. She hadn't seen Yuffie since her last days of high school. Yuffie being the baby of the group was merely a freshman when Aerith, Zack, Cloud, and Tifa were seniors. But, through her first year of high school she took up with the group and became a key part of them. During her sophomore year she kept close contact with the group, but as they began to spread apart and move on with their now adult lives, she began to feel left out. That left her feeling very torn and slowly she found herself being dragged down into the wrong crowd.

Aerith stared at her once luminous, cheerful friend who always had some sort of bright yellow or orange piece of clothing on. Yuffie stood before her completely dressed in black, black eyeliner running down her face, and her black hair which she had let grow out to her shoulders hung in wet clumps around her face. Her left eye was blacked, and there was a small cut on her chin. "Yuffie!?" Aerith finally squeaked out.

"Long time no see, huh?" Aerith was relieved to hear the slight spunk that was left in her childish sounding voice. Taking a deeper look, Aerith could tell that under all the makeup and dark clothes, Yuffie hadn't really changed much physically at all.

"Y..yeah Yuffie, come in come in! What have you been up to?" Aerith finally broke out of her trance. Zack came around the corner and had the same reaction she did initially.

"Yuffie!?"

"Do I really look that bad?" Yuffie asked turning to the mirror that hung in between two pictures on the wall. Zack had just got this apartment, and Aerith (though she still actually lived with her mother) came over and decorated it just as femininely as possible. Yuffie wiped away the black eyeliner with the sleeve of her long sleeved shirt.

"What's up?" Zack asked. He stood there shirtless wearing only his long black pajama shorts.

"My old man kicked me out. Says if I don't wanna follow his rules then I can't live under his roof. Of course when he said that I was like 'Fine I won't,' and next thing I know I'm packing my bags and moving in with my boyfriend. Little did I know that stupid prick had other girlfriends that he had promised could move in and the next thing I know I'm getting attacked by a group of six foot tall sluts." Yuffie explained flailing her arms around.

"Shit, Yuffs..." Zack said crossing his arms. "What's been going on at MHS?" (Midgar High school.)

"A whole lotta nothing. Without you guys it's just been so…" Yuffie stopped herself noticing that she was almost about to get emotional! She shook that off and smiled. "So lame! You guys were like the coolest clique. Zack! Without you and Cloud the football team is complete crap! We haven't won not one single game!" She threw her arm out and gave him a wet punch on the shoulder. He laughed and ruffled her hair in return.

"What can I say?" he flexed his muscles causing Aerith to giggle.

"Stop that." She said giggling.

"It's nice to see that you guys lasted. You know how it is sometimes when couples graduate high school." Yuffie said grinning as she looked back and forth from Zack to Aerith.

They turned to each other and exchanged smiles.

/\

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Over the next couple of weeks, Zack allowed Yuffie to crash there at his place. There was only about four weeks left of Yuffie's junior year and her plan was to work hard during the summer to save up and get her own apartment. In the meantime after school and on the weekends, Yuffie did do a lot of job searching.

Rock music blared from the stereo as Yuffie prepared herself in the bathroom. Yuffie stared at herself in the mirror without her dark makeup and her hair pulled back nicely. Now that she had found Zack and Aerith again there would be no need for her to dress a certain way to fit in with anyone. She had _her _friends again. Cloud and Tifa had gone off to the University of Junon, but even they would be home for the summer so finally Yuffie would have the support again that she needed to keep her head above water.

Aerith let Yuffie borrow one of her sleeveless pink blouses and a long white skirt with pink flowers on it. Yuffie felt awkward in all the pink, but didn't have a choice she needed a job. One of the most successful fashion magazines in all of Gaia was headquartered there in Midgar. Just recently, because of so many robberies and loss of money from dishonest employees, the company shut down all of its individual stores and placed all the merchandise under a single, very well secured warehouse. Now the only way to buy the clothes was through the use of a call center. An ad went out calling for young, friendly female employees willing to answer the phones and take orders. Being that the magazine is so popular they would need around three hundred employees as to where at least a hundred and fifty people would be available to take orders at all times.

Cloud and Tifa, knowing they would be in Midgar for the summer had already scored jobs in the warehouse. Tifa would be a packer, and Cloud would be a shipper making the deliveries.

For all the ladies on the phones, an interview was required so they could make sure they had the voice, not to mention the computer skills for the job. Yuffie was relieved to see when she arrived at the building that there were nearly thirty other girls standing around in the same position she was. Two older ladies who looked like they were in charge breezed by whispering back and forth.

"The president's going to be upset, there's no way we'll get all these girls interviewed today." One said.

"May as well just start letting girls through…"

"If we hire someone who's not qualified it's our asses getting chewed. Did you not read the letter?"

Yuffie watched the two ladies in black suits pass by her. Part of her just wanted to walk right back out. This place seemed _way_ too uptight for someone like her. But money was on her mind and the starting pay was 15 gil an hour. She would merely have to work 25 hours a week for three weeks to have enough to get an apartment. She said a silent prayer to all the gods in Gaia to help her get the job. She opened her eyes again and looked around at the place. There were fake plants in expensive looking vases everywhere. The floors in the lobby area were marble down the hall and in each of the rooms was all grey carpeting. In the room she stood in there were leather couches and a huge maroon colored floor rug. There was a small TV in the room but it was on mute.

The two ladies in charge began calling out names and sending more girls on interviews. It seemed like each time they sent two or three girls out, five more walked in. Yuffie was getting impatient and let out a sigh.

"Makes you wonder if it's really worth it…" A monotone voice said from behind her. She turned to see a red headed girl, shorter than her standing there. The girl looked up at her with a vacant expression. "Doesn't it?" she asked.

"You got that right." Yuffie said crossing her arms. Yuffie squinted as she looked at the girl. "Hey, how old are you?"

"I'll be nineteen soon." She said glancing up at Yuffie.

"And I thought _I_ looked young." Yuffie said turning back around to face the ladies up front. She watched as the blond lady answered her phone and her face went pale. Her and her brunette partner exchanged panicked expressions after she hung up the phone.

About a half an hour later the girl Yuffie spoke to was called. Suddenly it seemed if more girls were being called at a faster rate. Then finally it was Yuffie's turn.

"All the way to the tenth floor." A lady said nearly pushing Yuffie into the elevator. Yuffie didn't carry a purse so she clutched her ID card and a single chewed up pin in her hands. She panicked once she saw the elevator nearing the tenth floor. _Then where?! Shit I'm going to be lost…_ she thought. However, when the doors parted her panicking stopped. The tenth floor consisted of a single room which happened to be the office of the president. Yuffie then began to wonder. _She did say tenth floor, didn't she!? Why am I here with the president!?_

Unlike the bright lit rooms downstairs, this room was dimly lit. The dark grey curtains were pulled shut, blinds closed. There was not a single picture on the wall except for a few framed certificates. The floors in this office were a hard, black tile. Yuffie's tiny heeled white sandals clicked softly as she took her first steps out of the elevator. Ahead of her was a black desk with a huge computer screen sitting on the corner. A man sat there with long ebony hair. She couldn't see his face for he was bent forward scribbling notes down on a piece of paper. He was doing this so intently he hadn't appeared to even notice Yuffie standing there. There was no chair for Yuffie to sit at before his desk so she merely stood there waiting for the man to fix his attention up on her. Her patience had already been spread thin so it only took about five seconds for her to open her mouth to speak.

"Just a moment." The man said before she could even make a sound. Suddenly as if she wasn't already nervous enough, she felt her knees grow week. She'd never heard such a deep, but smooth voice like that before. It aroused her terribly and it had already been a month since she'd done anything. _Great Yuffie, first day here and you're already thinking about screwing the freakin president. What have I turned into!?!_ Yuffie's face twisted into a frown as she stared up at the ceiling. In just one year out of the safety of her clique she turned from the innocent young virgin to what others would consider a slut. Losing touch with her closest friends left her starving for acceptance elsewhere.

She looked down quickly noticing the man had moved. He swiveled his chair to the left and picked up the phone. "Bring me an extra chair." He almost growled into the phone. No wonder he had all these women running around so uptight. Growing up with a father like Godo, there was nothing Yuffie hated more than a man who attempted to control women with fear. It was disgusting.

Instantly feeling defensive, Yuffie crossed her arms and looked to the side at a mannequin in the corner wearing a silver dress. "You're the president, right? Do you actually design the clothes?" Yuffie's curiosity got the best of her, not to mention the silence in the room was uncomfortable.

"Did you not read the brochure you were given at the orientation?" the man asked not even granting Yuffie with a glance. Yuffie didn't bother to tell him that no one had given her a damn thing to read. She remembered seeing some people holding a brochure but evidently with so many girls showing up they'd run out of them. Yuffie sighed softly. 15 gil an hour was worth keeping her mouth shut no matter how much she wanted to make this man feel like an idiot. The elevator doors opened with a ding, and a lady franticly pushed a chair through the doors. "I want to know who organized these interviews and I want them fired." His crimson eyes glared into the woman's pale face in such a way that Yuffie half expected the woman to turn to stone right there.

"Yes, sir." She said in a breathy voice before hurrying out of his office, nearly twisting her ankle in her high heels as she did so.

"Have a seat." The president said waving his hand towards the black computer chair. Yuffie sat down and handed him her ID card. He held the card closed to his eyes examining every detail about her. The then turned towards his computer and began typing.

"I don't have a criminal record or anything, if that's what you're looking for." Yuffie said with a laugh. The man merely grunted and continued browsing the details he brought up in his computer.

"You have no job experience?" he asked sending her a short glance. By his tone Yuffie could tell that detail didn't impress him at all. Not to mention he was in a terrible mood at having to help out with the interviewing. _What was the point in hiring interviewers? _He thought. Too much money had been wasted already.

"No…, but everyone's gotta start somewhere." Yuffie smiled. She didn't bother looking at him, since he wasn't looking at her. She did her best to speak in her friendliest of voices. The man sighed deeply before turning his computer screen towards her and pushing the keyboard near her.

Yuffie looked up at the screen and immediately understood she would be expected to take a typing test. Coming out of keyboarding class just last semester, she wasn't the least bit worried. She pulled the keyboard closer to her with a smile and began her test.

The president watched her fingers as she typed quickly. He hadn't expected her to do as well as she did, but once she finished he handed her a packet of papers to fill out. Yuffie filled them out to the best of her ability and signed the final contract, dotting her i's with hearts. Mr. Valentine took the papers from her scanning over them briefly to make sure every blank was filled.

"Speak to the lobbyist on your way out. She'll make an employee ID for you." He said gruffly before turning his attention back to a stack of papers on his desk.

"What!? I'm hired!?" Yuffie shrieked standing up.

Mr. Valentine sighed heavily and held his already throbbing head. "Get out of my office or I'll make your first day your last."

Yuffie was too happy to let his comment get to her. She snatched her ID and her chewed pen off his table and sprinted out of his office in her high heels. Nothing could go wrong now, she had her friends, a great paying job, and summer vacation was in a month! Yuffie beamed harder than she had in nearly a year. Finally her life was back on track.

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Vincent Valentine drove his tiny, but expensive black and silver vehicle through the gates to his mansion. It was well past 1 A.M. There were more young ladies in Midgar desperate for work that he'd imagined. Interviewing personally wasn't such a bad thing, he decided. He could read people very well and weeded out the conniving, weasel type right off the bat. There was nothing he needed more than a bunch of greedy dishonest people ready to put his company further into debt.

He sighed heavily as he walked into the entry way of his house. The first five by five square foot of space in his house was for shoes and coats. He kicked his shiny black shoes off under the shoe shelf and threw and placed his hat on the coat rack before walking into the next room of his house. Lucrecia sat there at the table with thousands of papers around her. She was the designer of the clothes and did all the promotion. She spent a lot of time away taking her special made pieces to fashion shows in different parts of the planet.

"Hard day, honey? I heard that heavy sigh all the way in here." She said looking up at him with a smile that instantly eased every bit of stress he felt at the moment. He smiled in return and leaned forward to plant a chaste kiss on her lips. A rare moment of intimacy between the two.

"I just want everything to work out perfectly this time. You work too hard on these designs." He said. Lucrecia smiled. She always felt a bit guilty at how hard Vincent worked for her. Owning a fashion company was the furthest thing from Vincent Valentine's future plans than anything, but he threw away all his plans to make her happy.

"You better not be too hard on those ladies up there. I know you too well." She spoke pointing her pencil at him.

He smiled again, something his employees had _never _witness. "I won't."

Lucrecia smirked at him before continuing with her drawings. Knowing there would be no more conversation while she was in work mode; Vincent made his way to the master bedroom to get some rest that he would need for the next day. He felt a little more at ease knowing that he was now in full control of the company and as far as he is in charge there would be no more problems.

**Authors Notes:** by the way when I titled this story The Business, I was thinking about the song by Yung Berg and Casha. Lol that should give you a clue where this story's headed.


	2. Working hard for the money

The Business

(Chapter Two)

**Workin' Hard for the Money**

Zack's muscular arm was the first to rise holding a shot of vanilla vodka. "Cheers to Yuffie for gettin the job and…" he paused sending a grin across the table at Aerith who simply looked down shyly. Sitting at the table was Zack, Aerith, Yuffie, Zack's friend Tseng and his girlfriend Elena. Tseng and Elena had graduated a year before Zack and Aerith.

Yuffie raised her shot glass of Zack's special made sparkling strawberry daiquiri. She grinned happily. Aerith slowly raised her shot glass which was also filled with the same non alcoholic beverage as Yuffie's. "To Zack and I and our journey as becoming parents." She finished with a shy smile.

Everyone gasped. "You're pregnant!?" Yuffie screeched. "Congratulations!!" She quickly clicked glasses with everyone, downed the drink and began clapping loudly. Tseng and Elena joined in clapping softly. "Are you ready, Zack?" Tseng asked as if Zack were preparing for some sort of battle.

"Psh, Course I'm ready! I just hope it's a boy!" Yuffie beamed as she looked back and forth between Aerith and Zack. They were smiling at each other, with hearts basically popping out of their eyes. Yuffie had never been the jealous type, but always shared other people's happiness. As long as she was surrounded by happy people Yuffie would be the happiest.

After the party Yuffie stood with Aerith on the balcony outside the guest room Yuffie was using. "So how far along are you?" Yuffie asked.

"Just a couple days away from one month." Aerith said with a smile rubbing her still flat stomach. Yuffie looked out into the stars.

"You'll be a great mom, Aer. To tell the truth you were always like the mother of the group, so it makes since that you'd be the first to become a real mom."

Aerith's smile faded. "I know that I'm ready to become a mother, but Zack… I just hope he doesn't start feeling like his life is ending. Sometimes these feelings overwhelm young men, and they leave…" she stared off in the opposite direction as Yuffie's eyes landed on her.

"Zack would never leave you. And hey! As long as I'm around you'll always have a babysitter! You guys'll have plenty of time to live life." A few more minutes of pep talk and Aerith was instantly sucked into Yuffie's cheerful aura and the two ended their conversation in picking names for the unborn child.

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"This is your desk." The lady Yuffie recognized as one of the people in charge from the day she interviewed said. "Feel free to decorate it with pictures and what not, but you may not paint, carve or in any permanent way mark this area. Nor are you allowed to have food or drinks other than bottled water here. An eight hour day shift is allowed two ten minute breaks of your choice and a twenty minute lunch break. You are part of the group called 'lunch 2.' Your break time is from 12:20 to 12:40. There is a cafeteria on the first floor or if you feel you can make it back in time, feel free to leave and eat anywhere you want."

Yuffie stared at the lady as she spoke, but her mind wandered elsewhere as she went on and an about the allowed and not allowed actions. Yuffie had never been good at following the rules and knew her cute charm would let her get away with anything anyway.

"Any questions?" the lady asked finally after her near half our speech.

Yuffie shook her head no quickly.

The lady then began to teach Yuffie how to set up her phone system and how to use the order taking software on the computer. It was simple enough and once the lady left Yuffie's cubicle, Yuffie received her first call.

"Hello, this is Yuffie. How may I help you?" Yuffie started confidently with a huge grin on her face. She sat up right in the chair, hands ready to type.

"It's been four months since I've ordered from you people and I still don't have my dress!! The ball I was to attend was last week! I want to speak with your manager!" the customer yelled.

"Uh…" Yuffie stood up so she could see above the cubicle walls. The lady who Yuffie was now assuming was the manager was nowhere in sight. Yuffie chewed her nails wondering what she should do.

"Hello!?" the customer yelled into the phone.

"Um…right. I...I am the manager." Yuffie lied slowly sitting back down in her chair. "Your dress is on the way. Hey look at it this way if it takes too much longer you could wear it to a Christmas ball… hehe." Yuffie pressed the hang up button quickly. _Whew!_ _What the hell have I got myself into?!_ Yuffie quickly fumbled through the magazines and paperwork trying to familiarize herself with the merchandise and the company. After receiving about ten more of the identical types of phone calls, Yuffie learned that the company had been inactive for the past four months as it had to shut down all its stores and other individual call centers.

Yuffie left her first day of work feeling a bit overwhelmed but kept reminding herself of the paycheck she'd soon receive. At least tomorrow was Sunday and she wouldn't have to work. At the file cabinet where everyone turned in their time cards, Yuffie bumped into the little redhead she met during interviews.

"Hey." Yuffie said. The girl glanced up at Yuffie nonchalantly with a nod. "So…uh, what do you think about the job?" Yuffie asked once they stepped inside the elevator.

The girl sighed softly. "I can't complain."

"What's your name? Mine's Yuffie." She extended her hand out to the shorter girl.

"Shelke." The girl responded giving Yuffie a weak handshake. Yuffie smiled brightly receiving a dull, thin smile in return. She turned her face away from the girl, rolling her eyes discretely at the girl's 'lame' attitude.

The elevator stopped on the third floor picking up a few more passengers.

"…keep dreaming girl, he's married! His wife's the designer of the clothes." One girl was saying to her starry eyed friend.

"But, he said.. 'Excuse me.'" The slightly stout, curly haired brunette girl stared up at the ceiling. Her eyes were wide and watery. She squealed loudly and shook her clenched fists in an excited spasm.

Yuffie rolled her eyes again this time much more dramatically. _Excuse me, lady you're crazy._ She thought.

The brunette's dark skinned, silver haired friend sighed. "You're never going to get a guy acting like this."

"Re..really, but…" Finally the elevator hit the first floor and the two girl's conversation slowly faded out of earshot as Yuffie and Shelke made their exit.

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Vincent glanced over at the computer clock watching it flash from 1:59 to 2:00 A.M. He'd been going over recorded phone calls making sure the hired sales reps were speaking well with the customers. Hearing all of the 'where's my order' demands made him write down a note that they would need to hire more packers and shippers. Overall he'd been fairly impressed with the new sales reps. Granted most of the hired ladies were not new, but had transferred here from other companies. He came across a few calls that he noted were handled badly and since there were only about five reps on this list he decided he'd call them into his office and speak with them personally. After completing his list with the sixth person, he left the office.

He came home knowing his wife was probably already in bed. He browsed the kitchen quietly fixing himself a very late night instant meal. He reached up and unraveled the black headband that held his hair back, letting the loose pieces fall in his face. He was aware that he didn't exactly have the appearance of a successful businessman but once again this wasn't his dream.

He laid down next to his wife and stared at her for a while. Seeing her gorgeous face always helped him realized just what he was working _for._ He reached out and stroked her flawless skin lightly causing her to stir, but not wake. He planted a kiss on her forehead before closing his eyes to sleep.

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Yuffie spent Sunday sitting around Zack's apartment watching cartoons in her pajamas. Zack had recently taking on a second job in Kalm to help save money for the baby. Aerith did several local gardening jobs. Nothing too rough, just planting and watering flowers. No one was able to keep a garden growing like Aerith. Several of her elderly clients appreciated her services greatly. Monday came quicker that Yuffie expected and before she knew it the school day had gone by and now she was back at work for the evening shift. Her work schedule read Mon-Wed-Fri 3:30 to 9:00 P.M and 8:00 A.M to 4:00 P.M on Saturdays.

There was no dress code for work so Yuffie showed up in a black, rocker tank top and a pair of jeans that had so many holes in them that they may as well have been underwear. The previous night she took scissors to her own bangs so they now rested a centimeter above her eyebrows across her forehead. The rest of her hair landed in loose waves on her shoulders.

Yuffie reached her cubicle at 3:30 exactly and sat down to sign in on the computer when she noticed a note on her keyboard.

_Mr. Valentine has requested your presence in his office immediately. _

The bright orange post it read.

Yuffie sighed. _Great!_ She immediately assumed she was about to get fired. Quickly, she headed back towards the elevators where she met up with another girl who looked like she was on her way to his office as well. She wore her dark brown hair in two pigtails that hung down to the middle of her stomach. She had a young face, but knowing the president's strict regulations, Yuffie knew she must have at least been seventeen.

"Did you get a note?" the girl asked in a shaky voice.

Yuffie nodded and looked down at the elevator floor as it slowly began to rise. She sighed. "You don't think…we're fired yet, right?"

The girl's eyes widened. "Gods of Gaia, I hope not."

"I can't think of anything I did wrong." The girl continued in her soft, quiet voice.

"Well, I might of said a few rude things…" Yuffie rolled her eyes remembering all of the horrible phone calls she'd received on her _first_ day of work.

"I'm Marlene, by the way." She said bowing her head to Yuffie. Yuffie returned the bow.

"I'm Yuffie. I wish I would have known what kind of deep shit this company was in before I took the job…" Yuffie muttered. Marlene opened her mouth to respond but in that moment the doors open and the two girls faced the desk of the president. He sat there staring at his computer screen drumming his fingers on the desk.

"One of you sit right there, the other come sit up here." He said not giving a glance to either of them. Yuffie shot into the seat by the elevator doors forcing Marlene to go first. She sent her a guilty grin as she did so. Marlene merely pouted back at her before approaching his desk.

"What is your name?"

"Marlene." She answered quickly sitting down at the chair in front of his desk.

"Marlene, you speak too softly. This is your one warning to correct that. Thank you. Next." He said all of this quickly with only a split second glance up at the shy brunette.

"O..okay." She stood up and quickly walked out of the room sending a small smile at Yuffie as she left. Yuffie walked up to his desk and sat down.

"Yuff.." Yuffie started to tell him her name but was quickly interrupted.

"I know your name. You lied to several customers claiming you were the manager. I don't remember promoting you to a manager position. Also, you represent MidgarFashions now. The company _is_ at fault for all the delayed shipments so instead of arguing with the customers simply apologize on its behalf. Am I understood, Miss Kisaragi?" His crimson eyes met hers in what could have been a painful glare if Yuffie let it.

Instead she tossed her head back confidently not letting him intimidate her. "Whatever you say, master." She stood and turned to leave.

"That was a yes or no question." A deep voice rang from behind her.

_Just say yes, sir and leave Yuffie. It's worth the fifteen gil an hour, it's worth it! _Yuffie told herself. She turned around just before walking through the elevator doors. "Yes, sir you are understood." Though she spoke sweetly through her teeth, the glare in her eyes was enough to let him know just how she felt.

_Arrogant prick!_ Yuffie's mind screamed as the doors of the elevators closed behind her. She spent the rest of the evening being completely fake and apologizing to every angry customer that called in about their delayed orders.

Without thinking Yuffie slammed the door behind her once she returned to Zack's apartment.

"Whoa, bad day at work?" he asked startling her. She hadn't seen him sitting right there on the couch.

"Oh sorry, I forgot who's house I was in." she laughed softly. "The works fine, it's the boss. He's such an arrogant asshole! He has like half of those girls up there scared shitless of him. I hate men like that, using fear to control women. It's so fucking sick! You wouldn't see a bunch of guys up there taking his shit. He's have his ass beat by now." Yuffie ranted.

Zack's eyes widened after hearing all of language. "Oh you know those high society peeps… They're all on their power trips. Just kiss his ass and move on. At least you're getting paid for it, think of it that way. Oh! Your dad called here. Well, actually he called Aer's mom and she called here."

"I don't want to talk to him. I don't need him now I have a place to stay and a job, I'm fine." Yuffie said taking a seat next to Zack on the couch.

"At least let him know you're fine. You know he's got to be worried. I know your dad, Yuffs. He does have his weird ways about it, but he _does_ worry about you." Zack said looking at her seriously. Yuffie sighed and stood up.

She sat at the kitchen table holding Zack's cordless phone. She quickly dialed home and waited for an answer.

"Hello?" Yuffie rolled her eyes as soon as she heard her father's voice.

"What did you want dad?" she asked rudely.

"Yuffie, where are you?!" He demanded.

"I left, you kicked me out remember? But don't worry about me I'm doing perfectly fine without you." She said, knowing that probably stung him.

"Where are you staying?" He asked in a less demanding tone.

"With my _real_ friends. I even have a job now."

Godo raised his eyebrows at this. "I see…" he paused for a long time after, not really knowing how to say exactly what he wanted to say. Since Yuffie's mother passed, Godo had really cherished his daughter in his own way and was hurting now that she'd truly left.

"Well I gotta go, it's getting late. I have school tomorrow, ya know." Yuffie said with a sigh.

"Right. Good bye, Yuffie." Godo said reluctantly hanging up with his daughter. Yuffie began to feel bad hearing the hurt in her father's voice, but couldn't deny how much happier she was staying here near her friends. She made herself a mental note to go visit him on Sunday and left it at that.


	3. Making Friends

The Business

(Chapter Three)

**Making Friends**

Working and going to school at the same time sure did make time pass by fast. Most likely because Yuffie didn't have much of it. The following Sunday came quicker than Yuffie wanted and as she promised herself she would, she went and visited her father.

She still had her house key so she easily let herself into the house. Godo was right where she expected him to be; sitting in his recliner watching a Wutainese soccer game. Normally, nothing could tear his eyes away from a game especially one this intense, but he quickly turned to Yuffie.

"Yuffie."

"Old man." Yuffie greeted crossing her arms and looking around the room trying to pretend that a tiny part of her didn't miss that old fart.

"What brings you back this way?" he asked moving his eyes back and forth between the game and his daughter.

"This is my _home_." Yuffie snapped walking through the living room and into her bedroom. Another thing that motivated her to come back home was to collect a few more of her outfits and more of her personal things.

Her dad appeared in the doorway , shocking her.

"What?!" she asked rudely.

"Yuffie, I…I'm…" he waved his hand showing he was trying to say something. "I'm sorry, ok? I didn't mean to get so angry that day and force you to leave..."

"Whatever, old man. I'm gonna be eighteen in five months so get used to the idea of me moving out." She said sitting down on her bed. Right then she made the decision to spend the night there. She did miss her _own_ bed.

"I know that, Yuffie. It's just…"

"Spit it out!" Yuffie said lying back on her bed, folding her arms behind her head and looking down at her father.

"You are my only daughter, Yuffie. I gave up the throne for you! That must give you an idea of how much you mean to me." He said letting his eyes drop to the floor. After saying that much he turned around and left the room. Yuffie sighed. Maybe Zack was right. Godo really did care a lot for Yuffie he just didn't know how to show it. And honestly, her mother's death had a lot to do with it. They'd spent their lives taking out their aggressions out on each other rather than facing the truth and simply mourning together.

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Four weeks later Yuffie walked side by side with Marlene through the doors of MHS. It would be the last time they exited these doors as juniors. Much to Yuffie's surprise Marlene had been in her grade all along; they just didn't share any of the same classes. And with a thousand plus students in their class, it was unlikely they'd ever meet had they not worked together. Not to mention Marlene was a bookworm that spent most of her time in the library (a place you'd _never_ find Yuffie).

"Wow you have a car!" Marlene cried when they arrived at Yuffie's little lime green car. It was a bit of an older model, but the paint job Godo paid for on Yuffie's sixteenth birthday nearly made it look brand new. There were a few dints and scratches, but was still in pretty good shape.

"And you don't? Aren't you seventeen?" Yuffie asked as she stopped in front of her car. Marlene looked at the busses that were lined up. She shook her head no and took a step towards them knowing that if she didn't hurry she'd most likely be kneeling in the aisle for the lack of seats.

"My dad's lucky that _he_ can afford to have a car let alone buy one for his daughter." She said continuing to walk away.

"Hey! Where ya goin? I'll give you a ride. We can hang out at your place for thirty minutes before work." Yuffie said grinning.

"Really?" Marlene turned to her with a warm smile. The two girls smiled at each other for a while before both getting into Yuffie's car. It was as if they both realized that this would be the beginning of a strong friendship.

/\

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Ominous footsteps clicked loudly on the cement floors of the warehouse. Women, even men zipped around quickly performing their tasks above and beyond the best of their ability. Glass shattered and everyone froze. Crimson eyes scanned each aisle for the culprit. A young man sat on the floor quickly trying to sweep up the glass with his hands, trying to hide it before he was caught. He swallowed hard as he heard the footsteps closing in on him. He slowly looked up, his hazel eyes meeting with the furious garnet ones. "You're fired." He said simply walking past the young man, stepping on the broken glass as he did so.

The products here were mostly clothing, hardly ever did a person even have to handle glass and they couldn't even manage to not break one. Vincent thought. The glass flowers were merely a thank you gift to the people purchasing over a cumulative amount of a thousand dollars. These flowers were highly expensive as their centers were diamond encrusted, and Vincent would be damned if any were to go to waste like this one had.

Vincent left the warehouse and returned to the main building. By that time, news of the firing had already spread and transformed into rumors of a potential layoff. So as he walked through the call center everyone instantly got on their best behavior. He entered the elevator behind two young girls who didn't seem to notice him even as they stood in the elevator together.

"What a prick, right?" Yuffie said to Marlene as they walked into the elevator. It was Marlene's older brother Denzel that had gotten fired. Knowing that Marlene's family was struggling with money and needed both Denzel and Marlene working, this pissed Yuffie off to the max. "I hate men like that! Someone needs to knock him off his fuckin high horse and trample the shit out of him."

Vincent stifled a smirk, knowing she was speaking of him.

"Yuffie…" Marlene said calmly. "He broke one of the diamond flower gifts. Did you read the magazine? They are worth a thousand dollars." Marlene knew her brother was careless and clumsy. In her eyes he was at fault.

"So? We're talking about someone's life here not a fuckin piece of shit glass flower. I'd like to stuff one of them up that stupid president's ass, and up both of his nostrils." Yuffie said holding up her fists. Marlene remained silent; she took a glance at the man standing next to her and almost had a heart attack. She tapped Yuffie's shoulder to get her attention. Yuffie took Marlene's tap as an effort to calm her down.

"No! I'm not calming down this is stupid!" Yuffie turned to Marlene. "Why are you taking his side?! He's nothing but an arrogant, snobby, worthless piece of shi… uh oh." Yuffie's eyes happen to catch those of the person standing behind Marlene.

"By all means, continue." Vincent said waving his hand in the air. The elevator landed on the fourth floor which was Yuffie's and Marlene's stop. Marlene got out of the elevator quickly, but Yuffie was frozen. The doors shut and the elevator continued to rise with just the two of them inside.

Yuffie finally snapped out of her shock and realized she didn't care if he had heard her! "Why did you fire Marlene's brother? Do you have any idea what their family is going through right now!?" she crossed her arms across her chest and took a few steps towards him.

Vincent found himself almost admiring the courage she had standing up to _him_ of all people. Did she not realize he could fire her just as easily this very second if he wanted?

"No, nor do I care." His careless monotone pissed Yuffie off even more.

"I hope your stay in hell is the most painful, miserable, agonizing time ever, because that's exactly where you're going!" Yuffie said pointing her finger nearly an inch from his face.

Vincent shrugged appearing to be completely unaffected by Yuffie's comment which pissed her off even _more._

She growled, her face turning beat red. Vincent could almost see the steam pouring out of her ears which made him want to laugh. He hadn't felt the urge to laugh in such a long time it almost felt good. As soon as she opened her mouth, the elevator dinged indicating it had reached the 10th floor. Vincent held his finger up.

"Waste no more of your breath, Miss Kisaragi you too are fired." He said passing by her without looking at her. Yuffie's glare suddenly softened.

"You can't!" she cried out desperately following him into his office.

"Vincent? What's going on?" Lucrecia popped out from behind one of the mannequins she was apparently dressing. She looked back and forth between Vincent and Yuffie.

"He just fired my best friend's brother who's been working hard trying to save money so that Marlene can get into a good university when she graduates next year. Their family is going through a hard time right now anyway with her dad being unemployed after an accident at a construction site." Yuffie spoke a million miles a minute, but Lucrecia still managed to follow her. She nodded and furrowed her brow as she tried her hardest to continue to follow Yuffie's long, but quickly told story. She even went into how she'd run away from home and was staying with friends. She'd originally planned to hurry and move out on her own, but had now promised Zack and Aerith that she'd take part in helping them save so that they could get a bigger place than a two room apartment and have more room for the baby. That way she could live with them and help them out.

"and…and…" Yuffie took a few deep breaths. Vincent had moved over to his chair and was now slumped down holding his head. He now had a headache after rolling his eyes a million times.

"That's horrible…" Lucrecia said walking over to Yuffie and giving her a pat on the back. She then turned and glared at Vincent. "What did I tell you about being hard on the employees?!"

"I…I'm sorry." Vincent said sitting up and looking up at his wife. Yuffie smirked. _Make him get on his knees and beg for forgiveness_. She thought looking up at the beautiful woman beside her. Lucrecia then looked back down at Yuffie.

"Don't worry sweetie, nobody's going to get fired today." She sent another glare back at Vincent. He lowered his head in shame. She looked back down at Yuffie. "What's your ethnicity? Are you Wutainese? I'm sorry, that was a bit of a personal question." She laughed nervously taking her hand off of Yuffie's back and walking towards the elevator again. She and Yuffie entered and Lucrecia pushed the L button to take them down to the lobby.

Yuffie nodded. "I was born in Wutai. My dad would have been the emperor, but when mom died he promised her he'd raise me. And it's kind of hard to raise a kid and run a country at the same time so he turned down the throne and moved us here to Midgar."

"Wow… Fascinating!" Lucrecia's eyes widened. "Actually, you see, next month I'm travelling to Wutai to debut some of my uniquely designed kimonos. You are the perfect size Wutainese girl, would you mind modeling a few of my kimonos for me? Just so that I can see how they'll look on a woman of your frame." Looking into Lucrecia's pleading eyes, Yuffie found herself unable to say no.

"What do you mean by modeling? There's no way I could walk down a runway." Yuffie looked away almost shyly. That was the first time she'd ever heard someone call her perfect in anyway.

"Oh no, the kimono will be worn by professional models in the fashion show. But I just want you to try them on so I can tailor them to fit a woman of your height and weight." She said not taking her big green eyes off Yuffie's.

Yuffie smiled and nodded a few hours later she found herself seated in a very expensive white luxury car, pulling up to the biggest most beautiful mansion she'd ever seen even in pictures. "Wow!" she said aloud sticking her head out of the window looking up at the huge house. Lucrecia smiled feeling proud of what Vincent had given her. Had it not been for him, her designs would have never gotten noticed. Sometimes she felt bad for him. He had given her everything she'd ever dreamed up, but all she'd done for him was tear him from his dream and change him into something he truly wasn't. Vincent Valentine was known eight years ago as one of the strongest, most feared Turks on the Planet. His dream was to take over Shinra and turn the company around to benefit the society rather than hurt it. He wanted to use the enhanced fighters to protect the Planet, not to cause fear and stir up wars. At the peak of nearly turning this dream into a reality, he met Lucrecia Crescent.

Yuffie followed Lucrecia up their grand staircase holding on to the silver banister. "This place is totally awesome!"

Lucrecia chuckled softly. "Thanks."

She let Yuffie into a room that was a little less glamorous. It looked like a tornado had run through there, throwing all of the fabrics and sewing supplies around the room. Lucrecia pulled a stool out from underneath a pile of fabrics. "You'll probably need to stand on this." Yuffie obeyed. "And go ahead and take of your shirt and pants."

"Uh, right." Yuffie did so and stood there in her tiny black bra and panties. Lucrecia disappeared and suddenly reappeared with a beautiful turquoise, fuchsia, and silver dress that Yuffie had ever seen. You could barely call it a kimono. The only thing kimono about it was the silver obi that tied around the waist. The dress spilt open from the belt nearly exposing the front of Yuffie's panties. It came down way low in the front only held together by silver threading that crisscrossed down the front. It did fit a bit loose, and was way too long so Lucrecia instantly began measuring and sticking pins in places which made Yuffie very nervous. So nervous that she had to start up a conversation.

"So uh…what's the married life like. Is he an arrogant prick even at home?"

Lucrecia laughed loudly. "Only if you knew the Vincent I know, you'd be shocked to see how he acts at _work_. He's actually quite kind."

"Yeah to you! Any man would be, look at you." Yuffie said smiling at her.

She smiled back before waving her hand. "Oh stop it." Her smile slowly faded. Yuffie noticed Lucrecia didn't seem to be as enthusiastic as a normal wife would be about their husband. Especially after all he does for her! Yuffie would be bragging to everyone in Midgar.

"I do tell him to be easy on you guys. He's so worried about everything being done right. He's a perfectionist to the extreme." Lucrecia said after a while. She was now marking lines on the fabric where she was going to cut.

Yuffie sighed. "You know, it's like the business is all that matters to him. He doesn't stop and think about anyone else and he uses fear to control everyone. Holding their jobs over their heads. You can't survive in this world without a job, without money! Firing someone on the spot… that's messing with people's lives you know? He needs to think about that."

Lucrecia stopped and looked up at Yuffie. She admired what a genuine, _real_ person Yuffie was. Lucrecia didn't have a lot of friends, or really any at all she was so busy. What started as tailoring dresses turned into a girls evening cooking brownies and watching sad romantic movies. Lucrecia turned down the TV when she heard someone coming through the front door.

Vincent walked around the corner from the entrance area into the huge living room. Yuffie turned around and looked at him over the back of their white leather couch. They exchanged glares. Vincent wanted to ask Lucrecia what the hell was this girl doing in _his_ house at this hour, but didn't have the courage to. Instead he chose to say nothing to her and go the opposite way into the kitchen.

Lucrecia yawned. "It's rather late, I guess you'll be needing a ride home." Her yawn seemed to be contagious as Yuffie did the same.

"Yeah." She stood up and expected Lucrecia to stand up with her.

"Honey! Come here!" she called. The ceilings of the house were so high her voice carried an echo.

Vincent appeared in the doorway forcing a smile at his wife.

"Could you give Yuffie a ride home? It's late and I'm too tired." Lucrecia yawned again. Only she would be naïve enough to let her husband give other young women rides home and think nothing of it. Had Vincent ever wanted to be an unfaithful husband, it would be the easiest thing in the world to do.

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**A/N:** In case you didn't notice yeah I made Marlene like 10 years older in this fic than she would be in the game or movie, same with Denzel and yeah I know they aren't really brother n sister. And no I'm not going to make Barrett their dad, that would be…weird. lol


	4. Yuffie the Counselor

**Mimizmr – **oh you'll be surprised! There might actually be something wrong with Vincent… possibly. Anyways yeah the summary sucked so its gonna be hard to tell what this story is about until I get a few more chapters posted. I can say that nobody's seriously ill, and there most likely won't be any character death. (most likely)

The Business

(Chapter Four)

**Yuffie the Counselor **

Yuffie cringed as she slowly slid down into the passenger seat of Vincent's car. His scent nearly suffocated her as she closed the door. Vincent slammed his door shut and rammed the keys in the ignition. What was wrong with Lucrecia!? He was afraid of how she would react if he confronted her. Never once had he ever tried to argue with her. Her words were his laws and he'd live by them. He'd do anything as long as she remained beside him.

Yuffie obviously noticed he was pissed off about having to give her a ride home. He hadn't even asked where she lived yet as he started the car. Their mansion was ten miles down a curvy, hilly, country road in the mountains outside of Midgar. "Look, it's not like I ask to come out here. Thank your lovely wife for that one, buddy."

"Shut up." He snapped quickly.

"Don't tell me to shut up." Yuffie turned towards him ready to punch him in the face. Vincent revved his car sending her back in her seat. "Just cause I got you in trouble with your wife… Well, you know what you deserve it. I hope she makes you sleep in a doghouse outside." Yuffie laughed to herself. Vincent sighed loudly choosing to ignore her.

"Where you do live, Miss Kisaragi?" He asked with false politeness.

"In East Midgar. 2300 Wildflower Drive." She answered, twirling a piece of her hair "Its three blocks away from the Wutainese restaurant my dad bought out." Of course it had to be raining, and as soon as Vincent turned down the road towards Midgar he flipped on his windshield wipers.

Hearing music that was so low you could barely hear it irked Yuffie. She couldn't help but reach other and turn up the music. His radio was set on a soft rock station. Yuffie smirked to herself surprised she didn't find him listening to some devil music. Vincent turned and looked at her like she'd lost her mind. Then, he reached down and turned the stereo off completely.

"You're an asshole."

Yuffie said crossing her arms and looking out the window. _What a dickhead! And he has the nerve to ignore me! _"Did you hear me? I said you were an asshole!" Yuffie said a bit louder leaning towards him.

"Did you not hear me? I said to keep quiet. Or I'll dump you off here." Vincent didn't raise his voice, but spoke in a calm cool monotone. Yuffie wondered how an emotionless dead man and a careless busy body managed to make a marriage work. Yuffie's mind then traveled into other places…

Vincent glanced at her out of the corner of his eye wondering why she hadn't responded violently to his comment like he'd expected.

"Do you ever get laid?" Yuffie asked turning to him with a naughty grin on her face. Vincent swore he must have heard her wrong, but still chose to ignore her. Yuffie took his silence as a no.

"Oooh so that's why." Yuffie laughed to herself when Vincent didn't respond she continued. "Look, dude, just cause your wife's not riding your meat pole, doesn't mean you gotta take it out on everyone else. For the Gods of Gaia's sake, hire a prostitute. Obviously you have enough money to..."

"Shut up!!" He roared loudly. The silence that followed his outburst made Yuffie extremely uncomfortable. She swore to herself she wouldn't let him push her around by fear, but right now she was a little afraid. Maybe it was the way he whipped around the sharp curves on wet payment at 80 miles per hour…

Once they entered the east area of Midgar Vincent cleared his throat first to break the silence. "Where did you say it was?"

"Left." Yuffie replied quickly. "Right." She said after he'd made the first turn. "Down this road it's the brown apartment buildings on the corner." Vincent noticed her tone seemed a bit shaky. He knew he must have scared her, but if she only knew the open wound she was throwing salt on…

"Thanks." Yuffie muttered getting out of his car and slamming the door before he even had a chance to respond. He hadn't planned on it anyway, as soon as the door shut he sped off. Yuffie looked up and saw Zack standing on the balcony smoking a cigarette. "Yuffie?" He squinted as he looked down at her from the second floor. "Get up here!" he said in a mock demanding tone waving her up. She smiled and hurried to the apartment.

"Whose snazzy whip was that?" He asked putting his cigarette out in the ash tray. Yuffie shrugged she wasn't about to admit that she had just accepted a ride home from her jackass boss. "Hey now, you can't be gettin into strange vehicles like that. Especially those rich folk."

Yuffie pulled a cigarette from his pack sitting on top of his dresser.

"Outside." Zack said immediately pointing to the balcony. "Aerith doesn't want anyone smoking in the house anymore since the baby might be living here for a while. You shouldn't be smoking anyways you're not eighteen yet."

Yuffie rolled her eyes. She wasn't really a smoker. She'd only started to fit in with a crowd at school. She told herself she wouldn't get hooked and she wasn't really. Just every now and then she felt the urge to smoke one. She stood out on the balcony smoking the cigarette as slowly as possible making it last so she wouldn't want to do it again for a while. Vincent's voice was still ringing in her ears. She began to wonder if she had really upset him, really she had no idea what was going on in their marriage. Were they having problems? Was he on a non sex punishment? Had they _ever_ had sex? Did Lucrecia have…male parts? Yuffie smirked to herself maybe he had female parts… She shook away all these thoughts and figured she'd just ask her new '_bff'_ Lucrecia.

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The next day was the first weekday that Yuffie didn't have school first before going to work so she spent the whole first half of the day sleeping. Zack was coming in as she was about to leave for work. "Have a great day at work!"

"Tssyeah." Yuffie rolled her eyes as she walked passed him. She picked up Marlene from her house so she didn't have to walk and they were on their way to work. Since she had more of a variety of clothes to wear, today she wore two different color layered green tank tops and very short light jean shorts. She had her hair pulled up into funky pony tail. Marlene, who was always conservative even in such hot weather, wore a thin long sleeved white blouse and a tan colored skirt that came no higher than her knees. Her long brown hair hung loose down her back.

"I didn't get to say thanks yet for saving my brother's job." Marlene said as she and Yuffie got out of the car. Yuffie shrugged.

"Trust me it was nothing. He's not as big and bad as he seems." Yuffie smiled warmly at her. When Yuffie got to her desk and logged into her phone system she noticed there was an email message from V. Valentine. Yuffie gave the computer screen a weird look wondering what the hell he had to say to her. She pulled open the short message and read it.

_Lucrecia wishes to meet you in the lobby at the end of your shift. You have permission to leave thirty minutes early. __**Do not**__ make her wait._

Yuffie sighed. _Of course._ She knew Lucrecia would want her to try on the dresses again now that she'd been working on them. This time Yuffie'd make sure she drove her own car. Yuffie tossed around all her packets of information on the desk and began taking phone calls. Since this new call center had been open more than a month now, most of the problems with the delayed shippings were taking care off. Most of the customers calling now were quite pleasant and Yuffie had fun helping them shop for clothes in the catalogue. Eight thirty came pretty quickly and if it weren't for the respect Yuffie had for Lucrecia she would have made her wait just in spite of Vincent.

"Hi!" Lucrecia greeted her excitedly. "Oh I think the kimonos are going to look so amazing on you now!" Yuffie grinned and pretended to be equally excited. Yuffie followed Lucrecia in her own car to their mansion and found herself standing on that stool again while Lucrecia dressed her.

"Oh it's perfect! Next month is going to be great." She said clapping loudly. Yuffie looked over her shoulder at herself in the mirror. She never really noticed how shapely she was becoming until she saw herself in that skin tight turquoise and fuchsia kimono. Lucrecia noticed the way she was looking at herself. She remembered that moment. Most girls have them. Once you enter high school life is passing by you so fast that you fail to notice just how much you are growing and changing. "Honey is that you!?!" Lucrecia yelled suddenly. Yuffie hadn't even heard a sound, but surely enough Vincent walked into the room.

"Ye…" he caught sight of Yuffie in his wife's designed kimono. She glanced at him over her shoulder with her back to him. The dress came down very low stopping just millimeters away from showing the crack of her rear. Vincent's eyes traveled down her back stopping at the two dimples. He'd always thought they were the most erotic part of the female body. "…ss, dear."

"Doesn't she look just gorgeous?" Lucrecia grabbed Yuffie's shoulders and spun her around so the front of her was facing Vincent. Yuffie damned herself as the blush crept upon her cheeks. Vincent swallowed hard thinking of what would be appropriate to say. He didn't want to make his wife mad by saying something rude to Yuffie, but he didn't want Yuffie to think he was complimenting her either.

"Mm." Only Lucrecia would know that his 'hms' or 'mms' actually stood for a normal person's 'ya' or 'yeah'. She grinned happily. "Ok, now let's put on the last one." She started to untie the bow when Yuffie gasped.

"Oh! Vincent…" Lucrecia shooed him with her hands. He was out of the room in a second. As soon as he left Lucrecia laughed. "I think my husband wanted to see you naked." _And why would that be funny to you?_ Yuffie thought with a horrified expression on her face.

"Why would he want to look at this when he can see something like you every day?" Yuffie smiled as she realized where she could take this conversation.

Lucrecia's smiled faded. "Well…"

"You mean you guys don't…" Yuffie felt Lucrecia's hands leave the kimono she still hadn't finished untying. Yuffie looked her in the eye.

"You know, Yuffie. I…really don't have anyone to talk to about this. Can I trust you?"Lucrecia asked her staring up at her almost desperately. Yuffie nodded quickly. Lucrecia stood up and walked to the door locking it securely.

"Vincent and I don't have sex anymore." She said with a sigh as she continued. "..because we can't have children. After trying so hard to have kids, it's like I've lost the passion to even have sex, you know? I went to the doctor thinking it was me who was incapable of having children, but turns out when Vincent was working for Shinra they did a lot of experiments on their employees to make them physically more powerful. Whatever those people did to him caused him to become sterile." Yuffie instantly felt very bad about what she'd said to Vincent in the car. Her eyes even watered slightly.

"I'm sorry…" Yuffie said almost instinctively. Though she knew it wasn't Lucrecia she needed apologize to.

Lucrecia just waved it off. "That's why he does so much for me. He knows, my one true wish was to have children of my own. To raise a family. He couldn't give me that so he vowed he'd give me the world. I don't ask for all of this, but if it makes him feel like more of a man to do all of this for me, then so be it." Yuffie sat down on the stool beside Lucrecia who was kneeling on the floor.

"You could always adopt."

"It wouldn't be the same…" Lucrecia said shaking her head. "I love Vincent so much, I really do and I could never leave him, but I feel guilty for all that he does…"

_**You**__ feel guilty…_ Yuffie was busy thinking about how she was going to apologize.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to throw that on you. You're still too young to understand." Lucrecia said smiling at her softly. Yuffie smiled back. "It's ok, I don't mind, but I should get going."

"Right, right. Let me help you out of this thing." They both stood and Lucrecia finished taking the kimono off of Yuffie. Lucrecia led Yuffie out of the house. They passed by Vincent in the living room where he sat reading a book. Yuffie stared at him wearily, but his eyes never left the book. Lucrecia stood outside on the porch with Yuffie for a while longer before Yuffie got into her car and went home.

Aerith was there when Yuffie got home around eleven thirty. "Hey." Yuffie plopped down on the couch next to her. "Where's Zack?"

She sighed. "He's out with the guys." She looked down at her chipped pink fingernails. She had a habit of picking it off whenever she was worrying herself over something. "He's been doing this almost four nights a week."

"Maybe he's just trying to get it all out of his system." Yuffie assured her, placing her hand on top of Aerith's. Aerith leaned her head on Yuffie's shoulder.

"I hope your right…"

There was silence between the girls for a while before Yuffie said. "You won't believe what I found out today."

"What?" Aerith asked lifting her head off Yuffie's shoulder.

"You know how I've been totally bashing my boss, right? Well I made some pretty rude comments about him not getting any from his wife and tonight I found out that his wife really doesn't have sex with him because he's…you know he's… unable to have kids."

Aerith gasped and covered her mouth. "Oh Yuffie's that's terrible! Does he know you know?!"

Yuffie shook her head no. "Tomorrow at work I'll probably try to apologize to him."

Aerith then made a weird face. "That doesn't mean they can't…"

"She just feels weird doing it knowing that they will never produce a child. I guess in other words to avoid even thinking about it they just avoid having sex. His wife really isn't all that bright and I don't think she realized how it's affecting him." Yuffie said. Aerith looked down at her friend with wide eyes.

"Yuffie, you've really matured a lot."

"Thanks." Yuffie smiled at her.

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Yuffie could barely concentrate on work the next day. Several times during her shift she contemplated on marching right up there and just getting it over with, but she waited it out until after nine. Yuffie hung out in the hall by the elevators for a little while trying to think of the right words to say. Apologies were never easy for her and they usually came out all wrong and she wanted to make absolute sure this one would come out right because for once she actually, truly felt bad for her words.

Finally she forced herself into the elevator and watched as it quickly rose to the tenth floor. The doors parted and Yuffie swallowed hard. It was dark in the office, though. Yuffie said a silent prayer that maybe he wasn't here and she wouldn't have to do it now.

"What do you want?" she heard a gruff voice come from behind the huge computer screen. Vincent hadn't realized it was Yuffie, he'd yet to even send a glance at the person who stepped into his office.

"I…uh…" Yuffie tucked her hair behind her ear a couple of times as she approached his desk slowly. She walked around it so she was standing behind it, just a foot away from him. Vincent turned and looked up at her.

"What?" he snapped. His long hair covered his left eye completely making him look very dark, and Yuffie would say evil.

"I'm…I'm sorry about what I said…in your car the other night." Yuffie said looking him in the one eye she could see. Vincent said nothing but continued to stare at her. The image of her in the kimono flashed through his mind involuntarily.

"Lucrecia told me about…what happened to you and that you can't…"

Vincent stood up fast and was in her face in an instant. "Why would she tell you about that?" he growled taking a few steps towards Yuffie forcing her to take a few steps back. Yuffie took in a sharp breath and shook her head no. "I don't know."

"Because that's none of your business." He hissed through gritted teeth. Yuffie surprised herself when a tear ran down her cheek. Vincent's face instantly softened.

"I'm really sorry. I felt so bad when she said that, but you're right it's none of my business. I'll leave now, I just wanted to apologize." Yuffie said with a sniff, wiping her eyes. A cold hand clasped around her wrist pulling her back.

"What else did she say?"

Yuffie shook her head. "Nothing else."

Vincent narrowed his eyes at her and tightened the grip on her wrist. "Tell me."

"You won't run back to her and repeat what I said?" Yuffie asked looking up at him. It was a long way up, but Yuffie managed to lock eyes with him. They sat down on the black leather couch at the back of his office and Yuffie told him everything Lucrecia had told her. She felt a bit like a traitor, but right now she felt she owed more to Vincent than she did Lucrecia.

Vincent only nodded at each thing she had to say. "..and that was all." Yuffie finished. She squeezed her fingers in her hand as she talked; another nervous habit of hers. Hearing Yuffie tell him that Lucrecia hadn't had anyone to talk to about this made him feel a little less angry. He had an old friend named Cid who he very rarely went out drinking with and would lay a load of emotions on. Lucrecia didn't have those kinds of friends.

Vincent shifted slightly, but didn't move or say anything. He didn't look at Yuffie. Every time he did he saw the flash of her in that dress looking so… he didn't want to say it. He felt guilty even thinking it. All this talk of sex was making him a little…uncomfortable anyway.

Yuffie turned and looked at him noticing he seemed to be uncomfortable and shifted again. She could barely see him in the dark office. Vincent felt her eyes on him and turned to meet hers. "I'm worthless to her…"

"Don't say that." Yuffie was beginning to feel like a counselor. She had had a few talks with Marlene, then Lucrecia, then Aerith, now Vincent. Who else wanted to dump their feelings on her?

Vincent sighed loudly and held his head. He kept this position only for a few seconds before shifting again and crossing his legs. Yuffie, being quite experienced now understood what was going on. She swallowed hard thinking of what she should do._ Could I really do this?_ She didn't want to hurt Lucrecia, but she could see how bad Vincent was suffering. She could help him, even if it was only once. No one would have to know. She then wondered if he'd even have her. How foolish would she look if she offered it and he shut her down rudely and kicked her out of his office? _He could fire me! Then tell Lucrecia about my proposition that way she wouldn't stick up for me!_ And even if he did accept her and she did start this it would be another loveless, empty affair that she would only regret later after she'd get attached and have her heart broken.

Vincent's mind was in turmoil as well. _How can I be thinking this way? I work so hard for Lucrecia, how could I do this to her?_ He then began to wonder. Was she truly being fair to him? He was a _man_, she knew that. She couldn't have been that naïve. _I need to get out of this office. I'll go home and…_ No, he couldn't possibly ask Lucrecia to sleep with him. It would end in her crying and him buying something expensive. He needed this. _But she's just a girl, not even of legal age... I don't even know this girl._ He thought. What if she was a virgin, he'd steal her innocence away and leave her feeling cold and empty. Would she even have him? As far as he knew she despised him. What would he do…? The throbbing between his legs answered the question. He let out a deep sigh and turned to Yuffie.

At the same time she turned to him.

"Vin.."

"Miss Kisa…"

They stared at each other for the longest time, both now able to read what was on the other's mind.

**A/N: **That might have come as a bit of a shock! But that's why this fic is rated M! (and why it's called 'the business') hehe


	5. Guilty Pleasures

The Business

(Chapter Five)

**Guilty Pleasures**

Yuffie tucked her hair behind her ear, looking away. _I can't! I'm not that person anymore!_ Vincent noticed the expression on her face and to make things easier for her he quickly transformed into his professional self. He cleared his throat. "Miss Kisaragi." He repeated. "I wish for you to have nothing more to do with my wife and no more interference in our personal business."

Yuffie squeezed her eyes shut. Her back was to him. There was that arrogance again. Yuffie turned around and glared at him. "Don't blame me for what your wife did. _She_ allowed me to keep my job here, _she _invited me into your house, and _she_ spilled your business to me. Take it up with her, you asshole. And if you thought for one moment I would have fucked you for her, think again! I'd rather fuck a dead, rotting, fiend!"

Vincent smirked. "What makes you think I'd want you?" Yuffie could have just slapped the shit out of him. "Oh yeah?" she asked before standing up and pouncing on his seated form on the couch. Her lips contacted roughly with his as she thrusted her hips towards him, feeling what he had been trying to hide. She moaned into his mouth. "Mmhmm, what's that?" she asked sliding her hand up his thigh and massaging his suffering manhood through his pants. Vincent was speechless. Never in his life had a woman come onto him like this… "You don't want me? You think you're too good for me, huh, Mr. _President!?_" Yuffie ripped his shirt open, buttons flying everywhere, clicking and clanking as they hit the marble floor and a few flying as far back as the metal desk.

Vincent couldn't move, he couldn't think… All he knew is that if he didn't get his relief from this painful arousal, he would surely die.

"Do something!?" Yuffie yelled getting right in his face. Finally Vincent's vacant eyes met her in a dark look full of desire. He stood up quickly, knocking Yuffie to the floor. He pulled his pants down right in front of her, not hiding anything. Yuffie grinned up at him, eying his swollen manhood. She pushed him back towards the couch, making him sit down again. She kneeled down, positioning her body between his legs and wrapped her soft hands around him. Vincent threw his head back against the couch as he felt her mouth on him. His hands gripped the seat cushion tightly as she continued. His worries of her being a virgin were long gone. How would she know exactly what to do… Again this was the first time a woman had done this for him. It barely took five minutes before he felt himself nearing his climax. Yuffie seemed to notice as she stroked him harder. Vincent groaned loudly and grabbed the back of Yuffie's head, digging his fingers into her hair. He came finally, though Yuffie refused to take any of his seed in her mouth. She then stood up and cocked her head back triumphantly.

"Now go home and tell you wife _this." _She spun around picking up her small purse and storming out of his office. _Stupid jackass! _She felt stupid for pleasing him like she had, but at least she proved her point. He wanted her and he knew it! It was all over his stupid face! He'd been wanting her ever since he'd been gawking at her in his wife's kimonos. She knew that.

Vincent collected himself after she left, unable to believe what happened. _It wasn't me, it wasn't my fault…_ He repeated to himself. She did that to him, it was all her, not him! Lucrecia would kill him if she knew. After all this time putting up with his inability to have kids, just so he could go around and mess around with some other little tramp less than half of what she was!? How dare he?! He ran a hand down his face with a deep sigh. But it felt so good… And if he would be honest with himself, he would say he wanted more. He wanted _in_ her and he wanted to do it over and over and over again until he'd never have the desire to do it again.

/\

\/

Yuffie laid low the next couple of days at work. As soon as someone gets word of the slutty deed she'd done everyone would look down at her. She knew that's exactly how it was in high school. She noticed someone else seemed to be keeping a relatively low status as well, Marlene.

Yuffie had barely seen her the past three days and they worked in the same building. So now it was up to her to do some spying. 5:30, the usual time Yuffie and Marlene would take their ten minute break together, Yuffie watched Marlene's desk waiting for her to sneak off. _Bingo_. Yuffie snickered to herself as she watched her leave her desk. She moved quickly not making a single sound as she followed the girl out of the main building and down to the warehouse. Yuffie hid behind a stack of boxes once Marlene had suddenly come to a stop. Yuffie poked her head around the corner and almost gasped aloud. Sweet, innocent little Marlene making out with some red head guy… Yuffie never would have thought she'd see this. She couldn't help herself anymore.

"Marlene!" she whispered loudly, exposing herself as she walked out from behind the boxes. Marlene pulled away from her partner and gasped. "Yuffie!"

"What are you doing?!"

"Shh shh shh!!" She turned to the red head holding up one finger, before pushing Yuffie back behind the boxes. "You can't say anything!"

"Why? There's nothing wrong with hooking up!" Yuffie laughed loudly. Marlene forcefully covered her mouth.

"Not here! And not with my brother's best friend…" she whispered giving Yuffie a look. Yuffie nodded. She knew Denzel was protective over her and if he even thought any of his friends were even thinking about touching Marlene he'd fight them.

"You know I won't say anything, Marlene." Yuffie said patting her shoulder. "I actually have a little secret of my own that you won't even believe when you hear."

"What!?" Marlene whispered loudly. Yuffie grinned and looked around before cupping her hands and pressing them against the side of Marlene's head to insure her secret's safety.

"I hooked up with the president." She whispered quickly.

Marlene's eyes got so big, Yuffie half expected them to come flying out. "Let's pinky swear that we won't spill each other's secrets." Yuffie said with a grin, holding up her pinky. Marlene locked pinkies with her with a nod of confirmation.

"Promise." She said grinning. "But…when? Where?! How?!"

Yuffie looked around the boxes again. "You don't wanna keep him waiting, do you?" She snickered, pushing Marlene out in the open. "I'll call you later!" Yuffie called after her. Marlene smiled and nodded before running off towards the guy. He grinned and took Marlene back into his arms. When he turned his back and showed the long ponytail at the back of his head. Yuffie began thinking… She knew she'd seen him somewhere…

Yuffie stayed true to her word and immediately called Marlene when she got home from work to let her in on all of the details.

"I wonder how old he is…" Marlene said dreamily.

Yuffie scoffed. "Probably older than you think! The only reason why he doesn't have any wrinkles is cause he keeps that stupid stone cold face all the time." Yuffie and Marlene laughed.

"Then maybe I better stop making so many facial expressions…" Marlene said turning to her small vanity desk and gazing at her young face in the mirror examining it for any early wrinkles. Consequently, Yuffie did the exact same.

"Anyways, yeah… and he was totally into it! He welcomed it completely and had I not got up and walked away I bet we could have been banging all night long!" Yuffie exclaimed. And had she not actually liked Lucrecia a little bit she probably would have and then told her about it, _just_ to ruin Vincent's life.

Speaking of the devil… "Hold on, Marlene, there's another call coming through. It might be for Zack or Aerith so I better answer it."

"Ok."

"Hello?" Yuffie answered after she switched lines.

There was a slow sigh.

"Hellooo?" Yuffie asked louder, and just as she was about to switch back over to Marlene she heard that voice.

"Miss Kisaragi."

Her heart stopped, but she quickly composed herself. "How did you get this number?" she demanded to know, crossing her arms and glaring as if he could see her.

"You gave it to me." He answered in his monotone.

"When!?"

"When I hired you." She rolled her eyes knowing what he was talking about. All her personal information was in that application.

"What do you want?"

Vincent paused. What _did_ he want? Suddenly he became shocked that he had even gone through with it and actually called her in the first place. He was still at the office, sitting on that very couch she had relieved him on. Lucrecia had not a single clue that anything had happened. Vincent was feeling so guilty and was trying to make an effort to be more attentive with her, but all she wanted to do was rave about her upcoming trip to Wutai and her fabulous kimono designs. The company was finally completely on the ball again, and he didn't want to drop it this time. So for the past few days, outside of trying to pay more attention to his wife, he'd been slaving away in the office. The last two hours of downtime sparked an idea in his head…

"I need you to come in tonight. There's some…business that needs to be discussed." Vincent dug his fingers into his hair, pulling at it with frustration. He didn't want to do this, he _did not. _

"What kind of _business?_" Yuffie narrowed her eyes suspiciously, sort of understanding where he was going, but not really.

"If you aren't here by ten o'clock, you're fired." He hung up on her and sighed loudly. _Forgive me, Lucrecia…_

Yuffie switched back over to Marlene. "Hey, guess what…"

/\

\/

Yuffie wore her hair down, teasing the roots to give it that volumous, seductive look. She put on a lace, lined black tank top, and picked up a short jean skirt. Just looking at that worn, light blue skirt brought back all sorts of memories of the dirty deeds she'd done. She sighed as she put each leg through, ready to commit another. She couldn't deny the satisfaction it gave her, even if it did end in her being depressed after.

Though there were people in the building during the late night, they were very sparse. Yuffie walked through the dimly lit lobby and into the elevator. She smiled as her heart began to beat with anticipation. The doors parted on the tenth floor, revealing a nearly pitch black office. The only source of light was the faint blue color coming from the computer screen.

Vincent slid off the couch and walked slowly towards her. His heart screaming one thing and his body pulling for another. Yuffie crossed her arms across her chest defensively. Vincent approached her anyways. Slipping his fingers around her folded wrists and pulling her arms open. He moved his lips down near her ear. "I need you to handle some…important business."

"Mm… is that so?" Yuffie moaned seductively while rubbing her hands down his chest. Vincent nodded, while groping her hips, slowly moving his hands towards her rear. He never knew touching a stranger this way would feel so good. Part of it wasn't even the good feeling. Vincent was a risk taker, always had been, and no matter how hard he tried to change, always would be. The danger, the risk of losing it all…excited him. He knew this much about himself in combat, but never thought it'd apply to his relationships in life as well. Especially since Lucrecia meant so much to him. He'd given up everything just to have her…

Vincent closed his eyes and cleared his mind for the moment. It was almost as someone had introduced him to a highly addictive drug, and now newly addicted, had come back to get his next high. Yuffie felt his bulge as he pressed himself against her, holding her butt in his hands.

"First, I need _you_ to tell me something." Yuffie murmured into his neck.

"Anything." His voice went hoarse. He eased her back against a wall, slowly unbuttoning her skirt.

"How old are you?" she asked in a clearer voice. Vincent pushed her skirt down, letting it hit the floor around her feet.

"Is it going to matter?" he asked slipping his fingers down her pink panties. Yuffie moaned, titling her head back against the wall. "I'll be twenty seven this late fall." He whispered to her before taking a painful nip at her ear. Yuffie snapped her head away from him.

"Stop." She moaned, not noticing Vincent drop his pants and boxers. Vincent lifted her, holding her back against the wall. Yuffie wrapped her legs tightly around his waist and anticipated his entrance. Vincent entered thrusted his hips towards her roughly. Yuffie wrapped her arms around his neck as he kept his hard, fast pace in and out of her. Feeling the muscles in her legs grow weak, she slid slightly down the wall. Vincent caught her, and lowered her to the ground where he climbed on top of her and continued what he was doing, as if there had been no interruption. Yuffie didn't bother helping him in anyway, not that he needed it. He was using her, she shouldn't have to work hard. She instead laid there like a 'dead fish' while he pumped harder and harder. It was only when she felt herself coming, did she work her hips in motion with his. Vincent, again, wasn't far behind her. He emptied himself inside her and pulled out for a moment. He was already sweating, hair damp and all. Perhaps it was due to him still having his long sleeve shirt on. Yuffie was also still in her top. Vincent moved towards her again, but Yuffie kicked her leg out, nearly catching his jaw.

"Uh uh." She smirked at him, inching towards her skirt that lay on the floor. She knew what she was doing. Being with that asshole was actually amazing and she didn't want it to stop. And Yuffie knew just how to keep him hanging on.

"You're evil." He said glaring at her.

"You're the one looking like a vampire." Yuffie laughed as she spun on her heels ready to leave. Vincent put his pants back on and jogged after her. He snatched up her wrist and pulled her back against him. "I'm sick of you doing that." She said snatching her wrist away from him.

"I'm sick of you period, but I need…this." He said looking down, feeling a bit guilty. Yuffie sighed, slipping her fingers under his chin and tilting his head up towards her. He may not use many facial expressions, but his eyes spoke volumes.

"Don't worry, I won't be going anywhere. But you do wrong by me and I'll rat you out faster than you can blink." She showed him a fake smile and gave him a soft pat on the cheek before turning to leave again.

Vincent felt a bit awkward. Should he say thanks? See you next time? Instead he said nothing and returned to his work.

Coming home, he did his usual routine. Lucrecia, of course, was already in bed fast asleep. He didn't disturb her as he collected his nightwear and took a shower. He laid down beside her with his back to her. He didn't deserve to fall asleep staring at her beautiful face tonight…

/\

\/

Twenty-seven… Yuffie thought as she lay curled up in her bed. That wasn't _that _old. Yet that was almost a good ten years her senior. Yuffie was relieved she hadn't yet had to face Lucrecia. She wasn't sure she could look her straight in the eye after what she'd done. Even though Vincent _had_ silently asked for it to start with!

On the other side of the wall Zack lay in awake in bed as well. He still couldn't believe Aerith was pregnant. His doubts on being a father had nothing to do with the love he had for her, but were on him. How could he possibly carry the responsibility for another human life? He held his forehead and sighed deeply. Nights like these he'd usually be out drinking so he didn't have to worry about it, but tonight he stayed home. Aerith lay next to him fast asleep. He knew staying out was causing her to lose sleep and she needed her rest now more than ever.

Cloud and Tifa would be coming home next week. He knew he could count on them for some encouragement and advice.


	6. A World of Unfaithfulness

The Business

(Chapter Six)

**A World of Unfaithfulness**

"Tifa!" Yuffie shrieked running at her big busted friend, tackling her with a hug. Yuffie grinned at Cloud over Tifa's shoulder. "Hey Cloud!" she let go of Tifa and hugged Cloud too, ruffling his hair as she did so. "I see you're still sporting the chocobo do."

Cloud smiled faintly. "It's good to see you too, Yuffie."

Tifa ran her hands through Yuffie's hair at the back of her head. "Wow, I like how you're letting your hair grow out!"

"Really?" Yuffie spun around to face Tifa, flipping her hair over her shoulder. "I'm about to cut it, though." She didn't think long hair suited the shape of her face as well as short hair did.

Zack gave Cloud a hard punch in the shoulder, before pulling him into a man hug. "What's goin on, dude?!"

Cloud chuckled. "Not much, I hear a lots going on with you, though." He looked towards Aerith who was greeting Tifa.

"Damn, man! News travels _that_ far?!" Zack asked, completely shocked. He and Cloud slowly separated themselves from the girls and headed into the kitchen where Zack pulled out a beer for the both of them.

"Aerith's mom told my uncle Cid." Cloud said as the two took a seat across from each other at the table.

Zack shrugged. "It doesn't matter, the world will know soon enough, right?" he chuckled, but Cloud could read the fakeness of his laugh. He furrowed his brows as he stared at Zack.

"Are you not happy?" he asked.

Zack shook his head no quickly. "No, it's not that I'm not happy, I'm thrilled! You know I love Aerith, but I'm just unsure of what kind of dad I'm gonna be and if I'm ready for that." Zack took a long drink from his beer. Cloud nodded.

"I understand."

"How're things with you and Teef?" Zack did happen to notice the little bit of tension in the living room earlier.

Cloud sighed. "I let her down, Zack. It's over between us." He rested his forehead in his hand and sighed. He had cheated on Tifa with one of the cheerleaders for the Junon University football team. It wasn't an ongoing affair, just a onetime mishap. However it was enough to make Tifa snap.

"Sounds rough man, so where are you going to stay while you're down here?" Zack asked wondering if he planned to stay here because there wasn't really anymore room. And with Aerith's mood swings he doubted she wanted to be crowded anymore.

"With my uncle Cid." Cloud looked through the doorway where he could catch a glimpse of Tifa in the living room. Zack caught Cloud's lingering gaze and gave him a pat on the arm.

"You know how many times Aer and I've broken up. You guys'll get back together just give her time, ok? Sometimes that's all women need is a little 'me' time." Zack said grinning at his friend. Cloud took a sip of his beer and slumped further in his chair.

Tifa lured Yuffie and Aerith out to the porch to discuss what had happen between her and Cloud. Aerith was utterly shocked, but Yuffie wasn't. She knew all men had their weaknesses, especially men like Cloud who don't even have a clear idea of what they want out of life anyway.

/\

\/

The next day Vincent tried not to act completely annoyed as he and his wife entered the crowded bar. Cid had invited them out to come celebrate the kick off of his new project. He also knew his nephew Cloud would be working part time for Vincent at the warehouse as a local shipper. Meaning he'd only have to make deliveries in Midgar, Kalm, or Edge. All of which were in a two hour radius from each other. Cloud knew this job would keep him pretty busy so he wouldn't have to worry too much about putting up with his crazy uncle.

"Well, hell, look who decided to show up! Vince, you antisocial son of a bitch!" Cid yelled slapping him on the back. Vincent managed a small grunt of acknowledgement. He knew Cid was already drunk and would forget this night even happened so he didn't feel the need to be nice.

"This's my nephew, Cloud. He'll be workin for ya startin tomorrow evenin." Cid said resting his hand on Cloud's shoulder. Cloud glanced up at the taller, dark haired man and nodded. Vincent did the same looking down on the blond. He didn't plan on giving him a break just because he was a somewhat friend to his uncle.

/\

\/

A week later and Vincent found himself standing in the airport watching his wife hop on a plane to Wutai. He showed her a faint smile as she turned and waved wildly to him with that bright smile on her face. She was so excited about the trip, that's all she'd been talking about for the past week. It was like three months away from her husband meant nothing to her. Vincent hated putting these kinds of doubts in his head. Even though, they did make it easier for him to continue his undercover business. Vincent walked outside into the night air, watching the plane take off.

"Boo!" Vincent didn't even flinch, nor did his eyes leave the light in the sky that was his wife's plane.

Yuffie'd been invited to see Lucrecia off as well. Lucrecia also promised to take plenty of pictures and send them back to Yuffie. She wanted Yuffie to be able to see her homeland. If she could she would have took the girl with her.

Yuffie stood beside Vincent, grinning up at him. "She's comin' back you know." Yuffie poked his shoulder. Vincent hadn't called on her at all this week. He figured he'd have plenty of time to do some during the three months his wife was gone.

"Tell your wife I said good luck!" A blond lady said as she walked past them. Yuffie recognized her as one of the managers. Vincent didn't acknowledge her either. He was surprised she even spoke to him after all the times he'd yelled or scared the piss out of her. She glanced at Yuffie and smiled at her. Yuffie returned the smile. She'd called upon her many times to handle the customers she couldn't bear to deal with.

Vincent finally began walking towards his car. Yuffie didn't follow him. There were too many people here and if someone saw them walking together they might get ideas. Instead she took off in the opposite direction towards her car. As soon as her butt hit the seat, her new cell phone rang. Yesterday was Friday, aka payday, and earlier today Yuffie not only got a haircut, she signed herself up for her own cell phone plan. Her father had cancelled the one he'd set up for her after she began 'acting out'.

"Does your voice only work over the phone?" Yuffie teased with a slight giggle.

"Perhaps." Came that deep monotone.

"So, are we making any business deals tonight?" Yuffie asked, looking up at herself in the rearview mirror. Not only had she gotten a haircut, she added a few caramel highlights, just in her bangs. She dug around in her purse for some lip gloss.

"Do you remember where the mansion is?" he was seated in his car as well. The windows were tinted very dark so no one on the outside could see him at all.

Yuffie smiled wide thinking about being alone in his _house_ with him. "It was ten minutes down route 6, right?"

"Mm." Vincent started his car, he didn't really want her following him there. You never know who's watching.

"Ok, well I gotta stop by my home first and let my friends know I'm gonna be out." Silence over the phone was the most awkward thing in the world according to Yuffie so that was her way of quickly wrapping up the call.

Vincent hung up without a farewell and drove home in a hurry. Yuffie was only about fifteen minutes behind him. He left the gate open for her, but closed it as soon as he heard a car coming through. Yuffie had changed into her pajamas complete with huge bunny slippers.

"No one said this was a sleepover." Vincent commented as she came through the entry way of his house.

Yuffie smirked as she approached him slowly. "Nobody said it wasn't." She reached out and grabbed a lock of his long silky hair, letting it fall back on his chest. Vincent eyed her hair.

"You like it?" Yuffie spun around so he could see the back. She had the front long, down past her chin and the back short and choppy. Vincent shrugged. He always considered long hair his type, but Yuffie's short style wasn't bad.

"It's ok, I know you do." She said giggling at him as she ran a finger down his chest before unbuttoning his shirt. Vincent stopped her hands before they reached the last button.

"Exactly who wants this more?" he asked, bringing his lips close to her ear. Yuffie giggled as a shorter piece of his hair tickled her neck.

"I dunno." She couldn't stop giggling and even Vincent found himself almost ready to smile. Vincent kissed her right below her ear, slowly moving his lips towards her neck. He couldn't resist the urge to bite her gently. Though it was gentle, Yuffie still squealed. This only provoked him to do it again. Yuffie retaliated by pulling his hair. "C'mon stop!" Yuffie yelled, bringing a hand to her neck to block his lips. She ducked and ran around him, running into the living room.

"How bout we just watch a movie on this huge TV screen!?" She plopped down hard on the couch and picked up the remote from the clear glass coffee table. She couldn't forget how amazing it was watching movies on that huge screen. Vincent didn't seem into the idea.

Yuffie didn't mind him. She hopped up and roamed through their collection of DVDs. Nothing up to date that would interest Yuffie so she settled on an old horror film she remembered seeing when she was a small child. "This scared the shit out of me and had me hiding under the covers for like two weeks!"

Vincent snatched the DVD from her hand as she sat down. His eyes scanned the cover and his eyebrows rose slightly. He hadn't seen this piece since he was a teenager. He sighed giving in to the idea. "Go ahead, put it in." he said holding out the DVD to her.

As the movie started Yuffie tried to cuddle with him, but he wouldn't allow it. "Oh you'll fuck me, but you won't even sit next to me?" Yuffie snapped glaring at him.

Vincent merely nodded.

"You're such an asshole!"

"You do not know me well enough to say what I am." Vincent mumbled quietly. Yuffie almost didn't hear him over the movie. She pretended not to. As the movie progressed, Yuffie found herself getting just as scared as she had been when she was just eight years old.

"So uh…" Yuffie started nervously trying to start a conversation to keep from looking at the screen.

Vincent shushed her quietly. With a quick glanced at the poor girl he saw her eyes wide and her hands clasped tightly in her lap. He rolled his eyes and figured it wouldn't hurt. He _had_ fucked her, what worse could he do? Vincent pulled her into his lap.

Yuffie squirmed around to get comfortable in his lap. Vincent grunted knowing she shouldn't have done that. He did all he could to keep his breaths shallow as he felt himself become more and more aroused by her. Yuffie was on him fast and was ready to start now that the movie was getting to be too much for her. She turned in his lap so she was facing him.

Vincent looked up at her with a soft frown on his face. She frowned back at him and then brought a finger to her lips as she began thinking. "What's your middle name?"

"I…don't have one." He gave her a weird look at her random question.

"Me either! In Wutai, they don't believe in giving middle names." Yuffie said looking down at him seriously. Vincent lost the battle with his urge and stood up with her in his arms, carrying her towards his study. A place where Lucrecia never entered so he wouldn't have to worry about her sensing something dirty had gone down.

"That's exactly why I don't have one." He murmured to her.

"Double o.m.g. we actually have something in common." Yuffie gasped, wrapping her arms around his neck, bouncing lightly with each of his steps.

"I don't know if that's a good thing." He paused, looking into her eyes. "Having something in common with _you."_

"Shit… why would anyone wanna have something in common with you!?" Vincent pretended like he was going to drop her as he took her down a small flight of stairs. "Dickhead…"

Vincent threw her on the couch that sat down there. He removed his shirt and threw it aimlessly. It landed gracefully over the back of the chair in front of his computer.

After hearing they shared the same birthplace Yuffie couldn't help but feel connected to him. Her heart beat faster this time as he pulled down her pants and panties. _This can't be happening. _Her heart strings tightened in response to that thought. She knew she was slowly, but surely falling for him.

Vincent's mind wasn't running at all. He had one thing on his mind, the only thing that helped him through the day. His drug… his high. As much as he wished he could say it, he didn't hate Yuffie. He preferred not knowing her that well, because that didn't run him the risk of catching feelings. Not that that was an easy thing for him. He had a hard time letting people into his heart. Lucrecia learned that…

/\

\/

Lucrecia opened her bathrobe, exposing her self-designed seductive black lingerie. She felt bad for doing this. Vincent would be so hurt… But it made her feel guilty sleeping with him after all the hell she put him through after they first found out he couldn't have children. And he worked so hard to keep her; he loved her so much… She squeezed her eyes shut trying not to think of him and walked towards the older man sitting on the bed.

"This piece is marvelous, Lucy." A raspy voice nearly whispered. She merely smiled before letting him put his hands on her.

The mornings after were always the hardest for her. All she could see was Vincent's sad face. The one he gave her as she left for Wutai. That broke her heart. Seeing him sad always hurt her. In fact, the sight of a depressed, lonely Turk is what drew her to him in the first place. She just wanted to make him happy, and see him smile. She looked back at the brunette man lying next to her. Physically, he was a toad compared to Vincent, but his brilliance in fashion drew Lucrecia to him. This had all started as a business partnership. Hojo ran a modeling agency that recruited both males and females. He also had a line of suits for men. Lucrecia who was looking forward to participating in fashions and eventually hosting shows of her own needed to find professional models.

Therefore she and Hojo had a lot in common. They could sit at coffee shops from 7:00 A.M to late in the afternoon just chatting away fashion topics. She couldn't even get Vincent to go out to a public place without feeling like she was forcing him and whenever she tried to talk to him about her interests she would get that same. "Oh I see… Oh is that so… Mm.." And though he tried his hardest she knew he didn't care.

/\

\/

This was the first 'morning after' that Vincent had experienced with another woman in his bed. He watched her sleep, not with affection, but waiting impatiently for her to wake up. Finally she stirred and rolled towards him. He pushed her away causing her to groan.

"Yuffie, wake up. You need to leave now."

"…still tired." Yuffie muttered burying her face into the pillow. Vincent sat up and ripped the sheets off the both of them. Surprisingly they were both clothed. Vincent didn't even remember getting dressed. Yuffie moaned and curled herself up into a ball.

"Get up."

Yuffie sighed and finally sat up. "I wouldn't be so damn tired if I actually got any sleep last night!" Vincent didn't want them sleeping in the master bedroom. There was no way he'd put another woman in the bed his wife slept in. So they were in the guest bedroom and instead of a king sized bed, there was a much smaller bed that was only slightly bigger than twin sized. Vincent had meant for Yuffie to sleep here alone, but his muscles were so weak after their seventh round last night all he could do was collapse beside her. Yuffie was fine with this, but after about an hour she found herself lying next to a revving monster truck. For someone so quiet he was the loudest sleeper in the world.

"You were more than welcome to go home at any moment." Vincent stood up and walked over to Yuffie ready to yank her out of the bed.

"I don't get any breakfast?" Yuffie pouted up at him as she slowly pulled herself out of bed.

"No." Vincent answered quickly.

"Mean prick!" She gathered her bunny slippers and found her way down the maze of hall ways to the front door. She turned looking for Vincent, expecting that he had _at least_ followed her to the door to say good bye, but he hadn't. She sighed walking outside to her car. _What was I expecting?_ She asked herself as she sat down in her car. She was acting like she never knew the rules of these types of relationships.


	7. Hopelessly Devoted To You

The Business

(Chapter Seven)

**Hopelessly Devoted to You**

Yuffie and Tifa sat on the bed while Aerith stood in front of a full length mirror smoothing down a pink tank top over her tiny little pooch. "No one's going to know I'm pregnant, they're just going to think I'm fat." She crossed her arms and pouted. Tifa and Yuffie had made the decision that they were going out tonight and meeting some real men instead of sulking about their situations. Yuffie had yet to tell Tifa the exact truth about her 'relationship' with the president of the company she worked for, but Tifa didn't question her too deeply.

Though Aerith didn't need to go manhunting, her girlfriends were doing their best to try and include her. "You guys, I..I don't think I'm going to go…" she said finally letting out a heavy sigh.

"Are you sure?" Tifa stood quickly. Almost too quickly for the black tube top she was wearing. Aerith gave her a sad smile followed by a nod. "Ok, well I'll call you tomorrow and let you know if anything exciting happens."

"Alright, you girls have fun."

"Oh, we will." Yuffie said hopping off the bed. She wore her lucky light jean skirt, and a black tube top that almost matched Tifa's. Since Yuffie wasn't old enough to drink at the clubs, she was the driver. Her and Tifa hopped into her green car and took off towards downtown Midgar.

"Holy shit!" Yuffie cried out when she saw the line to the club. Tifa rolled her eyes. She didn't like using her body this way, but if she had too… Yuffie saw her pulling down her tube top just so that a little bit more cleavage spilled out. "Tifa! What has that Junon University done to you!?"

"It's not what the college did…" She trailed off. Cloud had always been protective of her. She wasn't seen anywhere in clothing like this unless she wanted to be ignored for weeks. Cloud wasn't always verbal about his complaints because he knew his silence would hurt her more than him yelling at her.

Tifa strolled right up to the beginning of the line and posed suggestively in front of the guard before showing him her ID. "And this is my friend." Tifa pointed over her shoulder at Yuffie who was standing behind her. She felt she was nothing to look at compared to her gorgeous friend.

"Go on." He said placing his hand on Tifa's shoulder as he unhooked the rope and led them through. It was so crowded, Yuffie lost Tifa in the first five minutes they were there. Yuffie scanned the room for _her_ types of guys. She wasn't into meatheads or pretty boys and normally these types weren't into her either so she didn't even try. It was hard to see people's faces with the constant red, green, and blue flashing lights everywhere.

Suddenly she felt something grope her ass. "Heeey!! Look who it is!" She spun around to face none other than her ex fling Reno. They had never dated, he wasn't the relationship type. She _knew_ that red ponytail looked familiar.

"Where's your _girlfriend_?!" Yuffie screamed over the music.

"Huh?" he leaned towards her, wrapping his arms around her waist in the process. Yuffie cupped her hands over his ear.

"Your girlfriend!!" she yelled into his ear.

He shook his head and though Yuffie couldn't hear it, she could read the 'Pshh I don't do girlfriends' off his lips. Yuffie put her hands on her hips and glared up at him.

"What?!" he asked flailing his arms.

Yuffie took his hand and pulled him back to the lounge area where they could actually talk. "I saw you at the warehouse kissing Marlene. She's my friend, ya know."

"Marlene…" Reno seemed to be deep in thought. "Oh the virgin! She's not my girlfriend."

"Why are you leading her on then? She seems to be really into you." Yuffie crossed her arms. Reno held up a finger and walked across the room to the bar and bought two drinks. He handed one to Yuffie and she sat it on the table behind her. She couldn't drink she was driving tonight.

"So…what were we talking about?" he grinned at Yuffie after taking a gulp of his drink. Yuffie didn't know if it was the red lighting in here, or if Reno's face truly was beat red from all the drinking he'd been doing. Yuffie rolled her eyes.

"You better not hurt my friend." She pointed her finger in his face and walked away leaving the drink he'd bought her on the table. He yelled for her telling her she'd left it, but she ignored him and went back out to the dance floor.

/\

\/

Yuffie woke up the next day, her legs sore from dancing. She didn't meet anyone worth a second date, but she had some real fun for the first time in a while. Though it was the last thing she wanted to do, she got herself ready and went to work.

"Hey Yuffie!" Marlene jogged up to her in the parking lot with a grin on her face. Yuffie smiled back and paused so that she could catch up.

"What's up?" Yuffie asked her.

"Nothing really." Though she said that, she had that smile on her face that said otherwise.

"Mm..hm.." Yuffie nudged her playfully. "Spill."

Marlene shook her head vigorously and ran to the door. Yuffie laughed but on the inside she was a bit worried about her. If whatever her secret was had to do with Reno, it would be nothing but trouble for her.

Later on while they were on break, Marlene found Yuffie. "We did it." She said out of the blue. Yuffie gave her a blank looked followed by a clueless blink.

"Reno and I…we…you know." Marlene nudged Yuffie.

Yuffie gasped ready to let her know just how big of a mistake she had just made, but before she could say another word Marlene spoke again.

"It was amazing! Like nothing I've ever experienced in my life! I…I think I'm in love, Yuffie. My first love!" she clenched her bottle of water tightly in her hands as she stared dreamily up towards the ceiling. There was no way Yuffie could crush her like that, not here and not now. She would just have to confront Reno again and let him know that if he did Marlene the way she watched him do millions of other girls she'd kill him.

/\

\/

Vincent sat at home in his study room reading emails from work at home. Should there be any severe problems like purchases made through identity theft or something of that severity, he was the one that had to deal with them. Also, all the workflow managers sent the daily schedule to him to let him know who was missing work and who was doing overtime so that he could make sure the paychecks were correct. He didn't trust anyone with money so there was no billing or accounting department in this company. He handled all of it.

He'd called Yuffie the previous night, but she didn't answer. Another thing he made sure to do was review all the emails sent back and forth through the company email. Yuffie and Marlene sent mails back and forth all day at work so Vincent knew almost everything she did last night. One would be surprised to see what some employees wrote to each other. Had he been a more sensitive person, he would have been hurt by most of them. Vincent was well aware at how disliked he was by most of the employees, and didn't care. If he wasn't as hard on them as he was nothing would be done right!

His pocket vibrated around ten thirty that night. He recognized the number right away. "What do you want?" he answered.

"What did _you_ want? I just saw a missed call from you from last night." Yuffie had just come home from hanging out with Marlene after work.

Vincent shut off his lap top and closed it, turning around in his chair to face the TV.

"Hello…??" Yuffie had just taken a shower and was actually exhausted. She put on her slippers and looked around for her keys, knowing what his silence meant. If he didn't want her to come he would have said that or he wouldn't have answered the phone in the first place.

"I'm waiting." He said before hanging up on her. She rolled her eyes at this_. I should just not show up, but I have been waiting too... _

When she got to the mansion the gates were open. She parked and walked up to the house to find the door unlocked. She locked it behind her and pressed the button to close the gate. "Vincent?" she called as she walked into the living room.

Vincent left his study and walked down the hall towards the sound of Yuffie's voice. He met her half way. Yuffie couldn't help but smile at him. She then frowned. "You might be picking me up off the side of the road tonight, my tanks empty and I'm broke."

"I cannot do that, Yuffie. I don't want to be seen publicly assisting you." He had been kidding, but neither the tone of his voice or his expressionless face showed it. Yuffie rolled her eyes and sucker punched him in the stomach. Vincent braced himself, tightening his abs so they were rock hard. Yuffie winced when her fist hit his flesh. "Shit, dude!" She pulled his shirt out of his pants and lifted it, giving his stomach a rub. "Work out much?"

Vincent shrugged.

"Right… you guys probably have like a home gym in this place." Yuffie walked further down the hallway to a room she hadn't been in. It was another sitting room, but none of the furniture looked as if it had ever been sat on before. The mansion overall wasn't a very colorful place. Most of the rooms were in black, grey and white. There were many plants and a few vases with flowers in them to give off some color.

Yuffie gave herself a tour of the house while Vincent followed behind her silently. He had to slap her hands a couple of times when she threatened to touch his precious pieces of art. Once they were on the lowest level of the house Yuffie could smell the faint scent of chlorine.

"Is there a pool in here!?" She practically screamed. Vincent sighed heavily ready to guide her away from the door that lead to their indoor pool. "C'mon I just wanna see!" Yuffie slapped his hands away from her and barged into the pool room.

"You guys have like maids and stuff?! This place is so clean!" Yuffie walked around on the white tiled floor, her eyes on the tempting warm water of the oval shaped pool.

Vincent walked into the room slowly, his shoes clicking on the tiled floor. Yuffie looked at him over her shoulder with a daring grin on her face. The next thing he knew, clothes were flying and Yuffie had dove into his swimming pool stark naked. A smirked crept over his lips as he watched the pale figure dart across the pool under the water. He walked towards the edge to meet her as she emerged from the water. Yuffie spit water on his shoes and laughed.

"Come on, get in." she said reaching out to grab his leg. Vincent stepped back avoiding her grasp.

"I'd rather not." Vincent honestly wasn't a fan of water.

Yuffie climbed out of the pool and lunged at him at a shocking speed, latching on to his arm. Vincent glared at her like she was out of her mind. "C'mon." Yuffie whined pulling his arm. Vincent yanked his arm out of her grip only to lose balance. Yuffie took advantage of his loss of balance and quickly got behind him giving him a mighty push into the pool. She jumped in behind him. Vincent came up, blinded by all the hair in his face and gasping for air. Yuffie laughed so hard she accidentally sucked in some water in her mouth and began choking. After she recovered she swam towards Vincent backing up him into the shallow water.

"Ahaha, Vinnie you look hilarious." Vincent froze and turned towards her. He could see a slither of her through his wet ebony hair.

"What did you call me?" he nearly growled. Yuffie lunged at him again and reached up to take off the crimson headwrap he always wore that would always match the crimson colored ties he wore. Vincent pushed her away.

"I'm trying to help you!" Yuffie yelled ripping the headband off his head along with a few strands of his hair. She splashed water in his face and pushed his hair back revealing his entire face. Her heart fluttered upon seeing how truly handsome he was without all the masks he used to hide himself. Yuffie quickly noticed why he always wore the headband. Over his left eyebrow was a two inch long, centimeter thick scar.

"How did you…" Yuffie attempted to touch it, but Vincent violently pushed her away. He walked further into the shallow end until the water only came to his waist. His black dress shirt and pants clung tight to him. Yuffie slowly made her way over to him. "You want me to just go home…?" she asked quietly noticing he seemed pretty upset. Vincent squeezed his eyes shut for a moment then opened them again. Yuffie touched his arm to get his attention.

Vincent looked down at the naked girl next to him. At the very least, he may as well get what he wanted from her first before sending her off. Yuffie recognized that look in his eyes and instantly helped him get undressed. His black clothes floated away as Vincent eased Yuffie over to the stairs to the pool. He sat down, inviting Yuffie into his lap. Yuffie hovered over him slowly sitting down, easing him into her as she did so. Vincent held on to the railing as Yuffie began to ride him hard. Vincent didn't know how he'd lasted this long without this feeling. He closed his eyes and began to groan softly as he felt himself getting closer and closer. When he was finally there, he let go of the rail and held on to Yuffie's hips as he thrusted himself harder and harder into her releasing his warm fluid into her. At least this time they were in water so he wouldn't have to worry about removing all of the evidence like he had around his office and in the sheets of the guest bed.

Vincent sat up, prepared to stand and collect his wet clothing, but was stopped as Yuffie threw her arms around his neck. As a reflex his hand landed on her back. "Vincent…"

Vincent sighed knowing what was happening. "Don't start that, Yuffie." He sat up pushing her off of him.

"Start what?!" She cried out after him. He ignored her as he swam out to collect his wet clothing. He struggled his way into his wet black boxer briefs and threw his shirt over his shoulder. He carried the rest of his articles in his hands. Yuffie sat outside of the pool waiting for her skin to dry so that she could put her dry clothes back on. Vincent got out of the pool and walked over to a cabinet where he pulled out two towels. He tossed one at Yuffie and wrapped one around his waist. The bright white towel actually made his pale skin look a bit tan.

Yuffie dried off and got dressed. She was done trying to decipher him for the day. She knew the bottom lines. He was married and still hopelessly devoted to his wife. She could probably die tonight and he wouldn't care. Maybe he'd go on to find another lady to fuck or actually grow enough balls to let his wife know the lack of intimacy in their relationship was eating him alive. Yuffie snatched up her small purse and headed towards the door. Vincent made haste after her. "As if you know where you're going…" he muttered getting a head of her and leading her upstairs and to the front door. Yuffie started out the door when Vincent grabbed her hand. Yuffie closed her eyes and refused to turn and face him. That is until she felt paper in her hand. She spun around and looked down into her palm where fifty gil lay.

She looked up at him. "What's…"

"Get out of here." He said in his usual dark tone, turning his back on her and walking towards the couch where he intended to rest while watching a little bit of some late news.

Yuffie grinned to herself as she walked out of his house and to her car. _So maybe he does have a heart._ She giggled and skipped the rest of the way to her car. No matter how hopeless it may be, she knew she felt something for him and there was no way of stopping it so she may as well deal with it the best way she could.


	8. Treading on Thin Ice

The Business

(Chapter Eight)

**Treading on Thin Ice**

Cloud hopped out of the huge delivery truck. The AC broke on the way back and today had to be one of the hottest days of summer. He wiped the back of his hand against his wet forehead as he stepped into the warehouse. There she was… Tifa stood bent over, sealing a box for delivery. Cloud watched her for a while. A lock of her brown hair fell over her shoulder as she bent further down to pick up the box. Cloud missed the way her silk strands felt running through his fingers.

Tifa felt eyes on her and paused midway as she lifted the box. There he was… _What the hell is he looking at?!_ Tifa wondered. Cloud didn't bother hiding his shameful stare. What's the worst that could happen? She'd already dumped him, was else was there for her to do? He stared at the back of her as she walked passed him on the way to another truck.

Cloud wandered the warehouse looking for the manager so he could let them know about the broken AC. He wasn't about to endure another five hour drive in the scorching heat. With no success, he decided to go straight to the president. He was a friend of his uncle's after all. He entered the main building through the lobby and saw a familiar face.

"Hey Cloud!" Yuffie was there waiting for Marlene to arrive. It was 2:50 and their shift started at 3:00. He showed her a faint smile.

"How are you, Yuffie?" He asked pausing near her.

"Ok, I guess. How's your life?" Yuffie narrowed her eyes at him, her question held more than the obvious.

Cloud sighed knowing what she was getting at. "I know I was wrong, but I just…"

"Yuffie!" Marlene came running into the lobby in her long jean skirt and grey blouse.

"Oh hey Marlene, what took you so long!?" Yuffie yelled she then glanced back at Cloud. "Sorry, our shift starts in less than ten minutes I'll have to catch up with you later, ok?"

Cloud nodded watching the two girls hurry off towards the elevator. Nearly at the same time, the down elevator's doors opened and the president himself came walking out. Had Cloud not knew him as his uncle's friend he probably wouldn't have been able to approach him.

"Excuse me." He said quickly walking up next to him.

"Yes." Vincent muttered. He said he wouldn't treat Cloud any different than any other employee, but something about that sad looking boy made it hard for him to be too harsh.

"The air conditioning in one of the delivery trucks is broken…" Cloud knew his problem probably sounded whiny, but five hours in the heat…

Vincent stopped and looked down at Cloud. Normally he would have completely ignored that comment and went on. "Take it to a local auto shop. Bring me the receipt and I'll cover it."

"Thanks, sir." Cloud said slightly bowing his head at the man in front of him. With that, the two men parted ways.

Vincent was on his way to deal with an irate customer who had taken it upon herself to travel all the way to Midgar to complain about her items not showing up on time. There was a customer service department here that dealt with local customers, but every once in a while there was always a customer who demanded they speak with the president. And once Vincent stepped in the room all problems were solved.

/\

\/

The next day Cloud did just as the president said got the truck fixed. On Cloud's way back from his office, he bumped in to Yuffie again.

"Uh oh, did you just come from the tenth floor?" Yuffie asked him. She was on break and on her way to the cafeteria to meet with Marlene.

"Yeah… just had to give Mr. Valentine the receipt from the auto shop. One of the trucks' AC broke down." Cloud followed Yuffie to the cafeteria.

"Oh wow and he actually paid for it? I'm surprised he didn't let you die of a heat stroke first." Yuffie saw how Vincent usually dealt with employees. She was the only one so far that she'd seen him give special treatment to. And it wasn't even like he was being 'nice' to her for free.

"Well, he and my uncle are friends so…" Cloud said trying not to appear to be bragging. Yuffie's eyes widened.

"Does your uncle…uh ever talk about him?" Yuffie sent Cloud a quick glance before getting in line to buy a sandwich. Marlene was most likely not going to show today for their daily break chat. This had become a regular occurrence.

"Not really." Cloud said before picking up a sandwich for himself. "He doesn't come out very often…Mr. Valentine."

"I see. Yeah with that busy schedule of his…" Yuffie laughed nervously. _Come on Cloud you have to know something about him! _The two picked a table and sat down together.

"I met his wife. She and my Aunt Shera are close too." Cloud sighed as he opened his sandwich. He had never been a happy go lucky type of guy, but he was never this depressing. Yuffie sighed as well not wanting to push the subject of their president any further for she might just accidently spill some beans.

"So Cloud, have you made any plans on how to get Tifa back?" Cloud's eyebrows rose at the sound of her name.

"No… I don't know what to do. I was wrong, Yuffie. There's no way of explaining what I did to her. I wouldn't blame her if she never forgave me." He picked at his sandwich. Suddenly he wasn't as hungry as he thought he was.

"Sooo… you're just going to spend the rest of your life sulking in regret." Yuffie rested her chin on her fist as she stared at Cloud.

He nodded.

/\

\/

"Shit." Vincent muttered as his computer locked up on him for the fiftieth time tonight. It was nearing midnight and all he wanted to do was go home. Lucrecia had called him earlier this morning, leaving him feeling incredibly guilty for all he'd been doing behind her back. She sounded so cheerful on the phone and had nothing but good news to share with him. In his mind, he believed that Lucrecia found her life perfect at the moment and he did _not _want to be responsible for ruining it all just because of something as minor as sex. And to think that just a few months ago he had absolutely no interest in sex.

Vincent closed his eyes as he rested his face in his hands. This was so not good… His phone vibrated just then. He opened it expecting to hear Yuffie's voice, but instead noticed it was only a text message. He squinted as he read it. Staring at the computer screen for so long had really messed with his eyes.

_Need me 4 ne biz 2nite? If not then I'm goin 2 bed._

Vincent rolled his eyes at her writing, but texted back.

_You can come by the office._

Less than a few seconds later he received another text.

_K cya n a few._

Vincent focused on getting his computer going again and by the time it was, the elevator doors open and there stood his highly addictive drug. Vincent leaned back in his chair as he watched her walk over to him. She gave him a tired smile. He shifted and looked away, feeling a little bad that he had dragged her out here tonight when she was obviously exhausted.

"You look like you're having tons of fun." Yuffie smirked, looking at his obviously frozen computer. Vincent glanced up to see it frozen again and cursed. Yuffie giggled and walked behind his chair. Vincent tensed up at first when he felt her small hands on his shoulders, but quickly relaxed as they practically melted all the tension away. His hand slipped off the computer's mouse and he leaned back in his chair letting a soft groan slip out. "You like that?" Yuffie seductively whispered letting her lips brush against his ear. Vincent groaned again to show his satisfaction. Though the muscles in his shoulders softened, another part of him quickly hardened. Not even Lucrecia could get him excited this fast. Perhaps it was because she didn't try.

Yuffie spun his chair around and climbed into his lap. Vincent could hear behind him the computer revving up as it started to run normally again. He opened his mouth intending to tell Yuffie to give him a moment to finish up what his was doing before they got too into this, but she didn't allow it. She forced her lips against his, sucking and biting at his bottom lip.

"Yuffie…" he grabbed her shoulder's pushing her back. "Stop, will you?" He sent her a soft glare before pushing her off his lap and turning back around to his computer. Yuffie wrapped her arms around his neck from behind the chair and leaned against it watching what he was doing.

"Close your eyes, you aren't allowed to see any of this." He muttered softly. Yuffie rolled her eyes but didn't say anything. None of those numbers or names on the screen had any meaning to her. Vincent took a quick five minutes in finishing up his work before shutting down the computer and standing. "I'd rather take it back to the house."

Yuffie smiled. "I'll walk out first."

Vincent nodded and began to collect a few things, putting them in his briefcase. Yuffie beat him to his house and stood on the porch waiting for him. While she waited she decided to ask him about Cloud.

"Hey, you know that kid Cloud Strife?" Yuffie said as soon as Vincent set foot on the porch. He nodded unlocking the door for them. Yuffie followed him inside and closed the door behind her. "He's like one of my best friends."

Vincent turned to her raising his eyebrows slightly in acknowledgement. Yuffie poked him seductively. "Aren't you worried about what happens if he finds out about us? He could tell his uncle Cid, who will surely tell his wife Shera, who might possible tell your lovely wife Lucrecia."

Vincent sighed softly. "If that boy wants his job, he'll keep his mouth shut. And if you want to continue to do this, you'll be sure Mr. Strife does not find out to start with."

Yuffie jerked her head back and made an annoyed clicking sound with her tongue. _There's that arrogance again. _"I don't have to do this for you. I can stop right now and not care."

Vincent waved his hand towards the door. Yuffie tossed her head back and strutted towards the door. "You can consider yourself fired as well."

"You can't fire me!" Yuffie spun around with a scowl on her face. "I'll tell everyone! You'll be taking to jail for fuckin a minor!"

"No one would believe you." Vincent crossed his arms looking down at her. The way he looked at her pissed Yuffie off. It was like he knew he was so much better and so far above her. Yuffie knew what he said was true. He had enough money to get a top notch attorney that would weasel Vincent's way out of anything.

"Lucrecia would." Yuffie said simply. "And she's the only one that matters." She turned and grabbed the door handle. Vincent lunged forward and yanked her up by her upper arm. He spun her around and slammed her into the wall behind them. Yuffie's eyes were wide with shock. Vincent narrowed his as he got as close to her face as possible without kissing her.

"Then maybe firing you isn't good enough, perhaps I'd have to make you disappear." He hissed through gritted teeth. Yep… The Turk was still there. He wouldn't really kill Yuffie, he honestly had no intention of even hurting her…badly. But he still knew how to manipulate people's feelings.

Yuffie swallowed hard. "Bastard. I hope you rot in hell." Her grey eyes darkened a deep black color. She squirmed trying to break from Vincent's grip, but he forced his whole body against hers, completely pinning her to the wall. She growled as she tried to push him off of her, but stopped after a few minutes of trying. Vincent cursed himself for getting excited at a time like this, but he couldn't help it.

"Forget it." Yuffie hissed. "I'd rather you kill me first." She didn't mean that. Her womanhood throbbed just as hard as she felt him pressing against her. His enticing scent was suffocating her, clouding her mind. Finally with a sigh, she gave in. Vincent wasted no time in getting them into the guest bedroom.

/\

\/

The two lay next to each other, panting. Vincent had just finished pulling out from behind her, and still had her wrapped up in his arms. Vincent had a hard time keeping his eyes open, he wanted to apologize to Yuffie for manhandling her, but couldn't find the words. His slow breathing made Yuffie believe he had already fallen asleep so she didn't speak either. Vincent finally woke himself up and sat up.

Yuffie turned and looked at him. He sighed heavily and smiled down at her through all of his hair. He laid back down beside her, not wanting to have to face her directly as he said what he needed to. He buried his face in her neck and breathed the words. "I apologize for…earlier."

Yuffie wrapped her arms around him, running her fingers through his hair. "You're still an asshole."

Vincent kissed her neck. "I know." He sat up again and found his clothes. "I'll walk you outside." Yuffie rolled her eyes as she got up and found her clothes.

Vincent walked her all the way to her car this time and even gave her a goodnight kiss to make up for his actions. He didn't want Yuffie to know, but she did have the potential to completely and entirely ruin his life.


	9. Guilty Consciences

The Business

(Chapter Nine)

**Guilty Consciences **

Lucrecia swallowed hard, forcing the dry wine down her throat. Hojo took an effortless swig and went on with his jabbering. Lucrecia glanced up at him a few times, laughed or nodded when necessary, but never thoroughly engaged in the conversation. Her mind was somewhere else. She glanced around at everyone dressed in their fanciest dresses. The Wutainese hostesses shuffled around in their tradition Wutainese clothing. "Another?" One of the ladies asked Hojo in her thick accent pointing to his nearly empty wine glass.

"Yes, please dear." Lucrecia watched as Hojo's eyes travelled up and down the girl's frame. Vincent would never do a thing like that. His eyes were always on her. She wondered why she was doing this?! Vincent was perfect! Handsome, hardworking, loyal, strong… he'd protect her from anything no matter what. But Hojo could give her what she always wanted… a child. Lucrecia looked down at her finger. Her wedding ring replaced with Hojo's promise ring. Hojo had no idea Lucrecia was already married. He, like Vincent, believed that the 'other man' was just an important business partner. Vincent never attended big events like this with Lucrecia and both refused to speak to the media about their relationship, so only the close employees of the actual company knew they were married.

Lucrecia stood up quickly and walked to the bathroom. She literally thought she was about to get sick, she felt so bad. She dug in her diamond encrusted clutch purse and pulled out her wedding ring. Staring at it, a single tear travelled down her cheek. A difficult decision was arising quickly, and Lucrecia wasn't too sure she'd be able to make it.

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Cloud sat on the bench outside of the MidgarFashions building. He had his rarely used cell phone in his hand staring at Tifa's number. His thumb hovered over the send button. It was like his thumb and the send button were magnets of the same charge, pushing away from each other. He had even lost track of the time that he'd been sitting there. Night fell, and the security guards came out yet Cloud still sat there staring at his phone. Footsteps broke him out of his trance and he looked up to see Mr. Valentine leaving the building. Vincent saw Cloud first and immediately got ready to defend himself against anything Cloud had to say. If he and Yuffie were as close as she said they were, she may have already told Cloud. Vincent wondered if he was out here to confront him on using his friend.

"What are you doing here?" Vincent asked standing by the end of the bench.

Cloud looked at the clock on his phone realizing it was a quarter after eleven. "Uh…I…" He sighed heavily and his shoulders slumped lower. Vincent didn't move, but only stared at him while waiting for a more informative answer.

Cloud stood. "I just lost track of time, I guess…" He looked away, feeling awkward under the president's glare.

"Well, you might want to leave before the security guards start questioning you." Vincent said stepping away from the bench. Cloud's bike and Vincent's car were parked no more than five feet from each other. Though it wasn't on purpose, the two began walking side by side.

"Have you ever…" Cloud stopped realizing who he was talking to. Vincent wasn't his friend and didn't seem interested in the thought of his friendship.

Vincent sighed his curiosity getting the best of him. "Have I ever what?"

"…done something you knew was wrong….something you knew you'd regret, but couldn't stop yourself from doing it?" Cloud looked up at the taller man next to him as they stopped by his car. Vincent looked everywhere but Cloud's eyes. _He knows…_ Vincent thought. Though, Cloud truly had no clue of what had been going on between him and his friend.

"What are you getting at?" Vincent asked defensively, crossing his arms and glaring down at Cloud.

Cloud sighed. "Never mind…I…it's just… I'm not myself anymore…" Cloud turned away from Vincent walking towards his bike. Vincent's glare softened.

"Is it a woman?" Vincent asked Cloud. Cloud turned halfway and nodded. Vincent took a few steps towards him.

"It's an employee here actually. Tifa Lockhart."

Vincent let that name settle in his mind for a while, then a picture popped into his head. She was truly a beautiful woman, but tough. Vincent himself wouldn't even want to mess with her. He nodded acknowledging Cloud's comment.

"What Tifa and I had stems back to grade school. I never imagined my life without her in it…" Cloud said staring down at the pavement. Vincent looked down as well. "She's the perfect girl for me, I couldn't ask for anything more… Yet I still…"

"An affair?" Vincent cut in raising his eyes from the pavement to Cloud's face. Cloud nodded sadly.

"She'll never forgive me, and I don't blame her, but in the meantime… how am I supposed to cope without her?" Cloud asked looking Vincent in the eye. Vincent stared back at him blankly. Though he was looking at Cloud, his mind was so far away that he couldn't even see Cloud. After a few minutes of silence, Cloud hopped on his bike and drove off without another word. Vincent leaned up against his car. He would _be_ Cloud soon if he didn't stop what he was doing. Lucrecia would never forgive him if she caught him having an affair, and he would never cope in this world without her. She would surely kick him out of their house, force him to quit his job, and he'd have to start from scratch. On the other hand, Vincent was a little relieved that Cloud didn't know about what he'd been doing to his friend.

For the first time in a while, Vincent didn't call Yuffie and he didn't respond to her text messages. He went straight home and hit the liquor cabinet instead. Not only would it comfort him, it would give him a few hours of peace of mind. He thought about giving Yuffie a call just to let her know he would not be continuing to do business with her, but that was a little too hard for him to say. Plus, despite her act, Yuffie was a smart girl. She'd figure out what was going on.

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Aerith sat down next to Yuffie on the couch. She'd been watching her friend the past two weeks and noticed she seemed a bit down.

"Did something happen, Yuffie? You haven't been going out as much…" Aerith said leaning forward so she could see Yuffie's face. Yuffie sighed softly and turned down the television.

"No…" Yuffie answered, sigh brought her legs up to her chest and leaned her chin on her knees.

"Yuffie." Aerith nudged her with a smile. "You used to tell me everything." She stared at Yuffie with her warm smile. Yuffie couldn't help but smile back. Aerith's smile had always been contagious.

"You _won't_ want to hear this one." Yuffie laughed nervously, looking away from her friend. Aerith gently slapped Yuffie's shoulder.

"Now you have to tell me!" She giggled loudly, she quickly covered her mouth. Zack was already in bed. He'd been working so much overtime trying to get enough money to buy their new place. Yuffie had contributed a little to their savings, but having the money to go shopping and buy everything she wanted was making her a little bit greedy with her money.

Yuffie sighed and looked down at her hot pink socks. "I've been sleeping with the president of Midgar Fashions." She confessed. Aerith held back her gasp, though her silence disturbed Yuffie even more. She didn't want her old friends to see her like a slut like all of her current high school peers did. Yuffie slowly lifted her eyes to Aerith's. Aerith quickly put on a smile.

"Uh…Yuffie…you're kidding, right?" Aerith laughed softly stroking her long brown hair. Yuffie shook her head no.

"That's where I'd been all those nights…but now he doesn't call me anymore. He doesn't even answer any of my calls." Yuffie looked down sadly. She squeezed her eyes shut, damning herself for caring so much. She knew this would eventually happen. Though, she just assumed she would at least get an explanation first. Vincent just cutting her off like this; giving her no time to prepare herself for the rejection had hurt her.

"I'm so sorry, Yuffie. That was awfully harsh of him… Those men like that with power just think they can walk all over people, it's really disgusting." Aerith rested her hand on Yuffie's shoulder, slowly rubbing her back. Yuffie leaned into the much needed comfort.

"I just wish I never did it, you know… I should have known I wouldn't be able to do it and not get attached." Yuffie stared absentmindedly at the coffee table as flashbacks of the different times she and Vincent had had sex ran through her mind.

Aerith pulled Yuffie into a hug. "You'll find a good guy, Yuffie." She said as she pulled away from the hug. "He's out there, but you've got to be patient." Yuffie smiled, and for the first time in a while it was a genuine smile. _At least I still have my good friends…_

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Work was getting nearly agonizing for Yuffie. Everything was so tedious, and now that she had no _business meetings _to look forward to after work, there really wasn't any motivation for her to be here other than the money. It was hard for her hanging out with Marlene, knowing what Reno was doing to her. She knew as a good friend she should tell her the truth, but she couldn't bear to crush her friend's spirits.

Agonizing couldn't even describe how Vincent felt about work. He merely did his job only under the motivation that Lucrecia would be proud of him. But he despised this… He had no interest in fashion, absolutely no desire to deal with customers, and hated working with employees. Vincent never was a people person and this job took him way out of his element. Feeling especially down today, Vincent wrapped up his work at nine o'clock.

Nine o'clock couldn't come quick enough for Yuffie. In fact, she stood from her desk at 8:59 not able to wait that last minute. She gathered her stuff and waited by the elevators for Marlene.

Vincent didn't know why he did it. He told himself not to, but his finger had a mind of its own as it stopped the elevator on the fourth floor. He had already formulated a bullshit questions for one of the managers just so he could walk through the room. So that he could see her…

The elevator doors opened and Vincent's target was closer to him than he realized.

"Hey watch…!!" Yuffie was ready to scold whoever had so carelessly bumped into her, but then she looked up and saw him. Vincent brushed off his shirt and ran a hand down his ponytail.

"What are you doing loitering around here? Shouldn't you be working?" Vincent's stern tone completely hid his slight embarrassment.

"It's nine o'clock, wise guy. I'm off." Yuffie's sassy attitude was also a cover, but for how happy she was to see him again. She stole a few quick glances up at him. She loved him in that crimson red dress shirt and shiny black tie. She pretty much had his weekly dress code down pat and knew exactly what he wore every day.

"Then why are you still standing here?" He asked letting his eyes rest on hers. His glance quickly shifted to Marlene as she hurried down the hall towards them. She slowed down once she saw him looking at her. Knowing detail stories about the two, she didn't know whether it was safe to approach them or not so she slowed down to a pace that could barely even be called moving.

"None of your damn business. Why are you concerned about me anyways? I'm obviously nothing of importance to you." Yuffie pushed away from the wall and headed towards Marlene leaving Vincent to glare at the back of her.

"Let's take the stairs." Yuffie muttered to Marlene as she walked past her. Marlene quickly joined her. "What happened?" Marlene whispered a little too loudly. Vincent's eyes narrowed. _Yuffie told her…_ He thought glaring at the corner she disappeared through. Vincent took the elevator down and waiting in the lobby standing behind one of the tall vases full of plants waiting for the two girls to come out from the staircase entrance. When he saw them exiting the building he followed. It wasn't a _huge_ deal to him that Yuffie had told her friend, but it wasn't something he was ready to blow off. The more people that knew their secret, the better chance he had of being caught and should he get caught because of Yuffie's big mouth, she'd have hell to pay.

A smirk crept across his pale lips as he pulled out of the parking lot in his car, following Yuffie's green one.


	10. Crash and Burn

The Business

(Chapter Ten)

**Crash and Burn**

It didn't take long for Yuffie to realize she was being followed, and it took even less time for her to figure out who it was following her. Marlene didn't seem to notice as she chatted happily about how things were going with her and Reno. Yuffie nodded, smiled or laughed when necessary while keeping her eyes darting back and forth from the road to the rear view mirror.

"Aren't you coming in?" Marlene asked once they pulled up at her house. Yuffie pointed her thumb backwards behind them. Marlene looked back and saw the expensive black sports car parked seemingly millimeters behind Yuffie's car. "I see…" she smiled at Yuffie. "Be careful."

"You too, Marlene. Don't put too much trust in that guy Reno. These men are all pigs!!" Yuffie yelled hoping Vincent heard her. He did and it made him smirk. Yuffie pulled off quickly and pulled a U turn in the middle of the road. Vincent followed in suit, showing off the handling his expensive car had as he didn't even loose more than a couple of feet off of Yuffie's trail. Yuffie went to the apartments thinking that Vincent wouldn't actually stop there as that would be a little obvious should anyone spot him. But he did. Yuffie got out of her car and stared in shock as Vincent parked his and got out as well.

"What the hell are you doing?" Yuffie asked walking over to him. Vincent looked around and made sure there was nobody around that would recognize him.

"You told that girl." Vincent's smooth monotone covered the annoyance he felt. Yuffie rolled her eyes and shifted her weight from one foot to the other as she placed her hand on her hip.

"Duh! Girls tell everything to their best friends. She's not going to tell anyone." Yuffie turned to walk towards the apartments. Vincent cleared his throat to grab her attention again. Lucrecia would be home soon, it wouldn't hurt to have one last time…

"What?" Yuffie snapped.

Vincent closed the distance between them. "What do you mean '_what_'? You know what I want." He mumbled, lips brushing her ear as he spoke. He let his hands explore her body. Her tight clothes didn't make it hard for him to feel her slender shape.

"Someone's going to see us…" Yuffie whispered, tilting her head up as Vincent placed a trail of kisses along her jaw. He took her hands and pulled her back to his car.

"Get in." He ordered as he unlocked the doors.

Zack pulled into the parking lot just in time to see Yuffie as she ducked down getting into that familiar looking 'snazzy whip' as he referred to it earlier. He then got a good look at the man who climbed into the driver's seat. _The Vincent Valentine_. Zack thought. Everyone who was affiliated with Shinra at one point or the other was familiar with the infamous ex Turk. Zack stopped his car right where it was and got out without even shutting it off.

"Hey!! Yuffie!! Hey!!" Zack waved down the car. "Hey!!" He yelled pointing at Vincent.

Vincent stared the young man in the face as he took off nearly running him over as he exited the parking lot. "Your boyfriend?" Vincent asked looking at the man in the rearview mirror.

"No!" Yuffie reached over and punched Vincent in the shoulder for that kind of accusation. She then rolled her eyes. "That's Zack, one of my best friends. I live with him and his girlfriend who is pregnant right now."

Vincent didn't say anything to that. The ride was silent as they left the city of Midgar to the outskirts and into the mountains.

"Why are you doing this again? I thought you were done with me…" Yuffie said softly. She was done pretending like she wasn't happy to be with him again. No matter how much of an asshole he was.

Vincent sighed. "If I knew why I did this, Yuffie… My life would be so much easier right now." He glanced over at her. Yuffie met his glanced and smiled.

"Why do you allow it?" He let his glanced rest on her for a while, not paying attention to the road ahead of him. Yuffie looked ahead at the road while she thought of an answer. Suddenly a fiend jumped out in front of the car. She screamed.

"Vincent! Watch out!!"

Vincent's turned his head quickly seeing the fiend before him. Everything seemed to slow down. Vincent could almost hear his and Yuffie's hearts beating rapidly as he spun the wheel to the left avoiding a head on collision with the fiend, yet clipping its leg causing Vincent to lose a little bit of the car's control. Lights shined from around the curve ahead and suddenly another car was there flying towards them at a frighteningly high speed. Vincent took in a sharp breath as he spun the wheel in the opposite direction. Tires squealed as the car a head slammed on its breaks, and as Vincent's tires spun on the pavement. Vincent closed his eyes unsure of what was about to happen. His car flew forward into the steep ditch on the side of the road sending him and Yuffie towards the dashboard. Neither of them were wearing their seat belts and Vincent's car was customized without air bags. Yuffie hit the dashboard head first breaking skin above her left eyebrow and Vincent instinctively put his arm up bruising it against his steering wheel.

All that could be heard with Vincent's and Yuffie's heavy breathing as they both tried to compose themselves.

He took a few more deep breaths collecting himself before he turned to Yuffie. "Are you alright?" he asked glanced at the broken skin on her forehead. She reached up to touch it, but Vincent grabbed her hand. "Don't bother it, it'll get infected." He turned and opened his car door, kicking it open with his foot and climbing out. Yuffie followed him out his door and walked behind him as he started up the path towards his house. They were only about two miles away… They could make it. Vincent thought.

"What about your car?" Yuffie asked looking up at him. He sighed and looked back over his shoulder at his totaled car.

"We're alive, and that's all that matters, Yuffie." The sight of that incoming car, merely feet away from smashing into them head on at 70 mph flashed through his memory again. His heart even skipped a beat. Maybe his life meant more to him than he thought. He glanced down at Yuffie. What would he have done if she had died? He slipped his fingers around hers in a tight hold as they continued to walk.

Yuffie wrapped hear arm around his bruised one and leaned against him once they got through one mile. Vincent sighed and knew the fastest way he was going to get Yuffie up the rest of the path was to carry her. Yuffie grinned as he squatted down in front of her allowing her onto his back. Yuffie hugged him tight as he stood up with her on his back. He jogged the rest of the way, impressing her with his stamina. She wondered if he would still have enough energy for later…

Vincent thought he'd never see the gate of his mansion. He put Yuffie down as he walked up to the control panel and typed in the code.

"So when's your wifey coming home?" Yuffie asked walking into the mansion. Vincent shut the door behind them and kicked off his shoes.

"Next week."

"Shit… that's pretty close." Yuffie looked down and noticed how bad Vincent's arm was starting to bruise. "Is it broken?" She reached out to touch it. Vincent winced as she did so, but shook his head no. He eyed the cut on her head and motioned for her to follow him. He took her inside his and his wife's master bathroom. It was the first time Yuffie passed through their bedroom. Vincent put down the toilet's lid for her to sit on. "Sit down." He said while opening the medicine cabinet. Yuffie obeyed and watched as he got some disinfectant medication and a cotton ball. She loved that concentrated look on his face as he twisted the bottle open and dipped it upside down over the cotton ball, getting just the right amount on it. Yuffie realized the medicine was probably going to burn like hell and instantly jumped from the toilet seat to the edge of the bathtub as Vincent came towards her with the cotton ball in hand.

"Yuffie, sit still." He demanded, his obvious frustration pouring out of his voice. She shook her head no. Vincent's hand quickly shot out grabbing her jaw in a tight grip. Yuffie screamed through a half open mouth as he rubbed the moistened cotton ball against her burning cut.

"Asshole!" she yelled crossing her arms and pouting up at him like a child. He shook his head as he sighed and put everything away. He pulled open a draw in the cabinet by the sink and got a bandage for her. Yuffie stood up and snatched it out of his hand, looking at herself in the mirror. "I can put it on my damn self, get out of here I have to pee too."

Vincent left and waited in the bedroom for her to come out. He sat down on the huge king sized bed and laid back, pushing himself into the middle of the bed so his long legs weren't hanging off. _Did that really just happen? _His throbbing arm answered that question. He decided to put the wreck aside and deal with it all tomorrow. He still had his old car to drive… Vincent never was one to care much about material things, the car could sit in the ditch forever and rot into dust and it wouldn't matter to him. Yuffie came out of the bathroom with the bandage over her entire left eyebrow. Vincent tried to move, tried to push himself off the bed and walk her into the guest room, but he couldn't. Yuffie soon made that harder as she climbed on top of him.

"Shit, dude…" She said with a heavy sigh. "You almost killed us."

Vincent wrapped his right arm around her and patted her back softly. Yuffie smiled and nuzzled her face into his hair taking a deep breath. She loved his scent, which alone was enough to arouse her. She sat up, straddling him and seductively unbuttoned his dress shirt. Vincent sat up and gently moved her hands away from his open shirt. "You never answered my question…"

"Huh?" Yuffie twisted her face in confusion.

Vincent rested his hands on her hips as she wrapped her legs around his waist. "You don't look like the type that's desperate enough to sleep with older, married men. Especially when you aren't getting anything out of it…"

Yuffie looked down knowing he was referring to what he asked her in the car, seconds before their near death experience. _Why __**do**__ I allow this?_ She closed her eyes. She knew why… She did it for the attention, for the affection, and the pleasure. Even if the feeling only lasted for a little while.

"Am I not the first?" Vincent asked staring at her face though she still had her eyes closed.

Yuffie nodded, blinking slowly as she opened her eyes to meet his. "Not the first guy that I let… use me like this… but the first older, married man." She chuckled nervously. Flashes of the different nights she'd been left totally abandoned by the random guys she let have her. Her own virginity was taken for granted. She remembered waking up alone aching badly with dried blood stains on her thighs.

Vincent noticed the pain in her face and had to look away feeling how it affected him. _What the hell am I doing?_ "Don't feel guilty, Vincent." Yuffie suddenly had a convincing smile forced on her face as she pushed his hair back over his shoulder and tucked a shorter chunk of it behind his ear. She then wrapped her arms around him and rested her head on his shoulder. "Being with someone like this, even if it's only for a little while, feels good. Despite our intentions towards each other, it's all about the moment. That's what you strive for isn't it? That's why _you_ do this, isn't it? All for one moment."

Suddenly Yuffie wasn't 'just a kid', but a _young woman_ before him. A beautiful young woman with feelings that he knew he'd probably stepped on at times. Vincent closed his eyes and pressed his lips against hers. Yuffie's heart sped up and her hands trembled. The way he kissed her was different this time. There was an emotion there. Yuffie moaned as she turned her head to the side inviting her tongue into his mouth. Vincent welcomed it and laid back on the bed, bringing Yuffie down with him. Yuffie felt his slightly rough hand touch her face, as he pulled away. He couldn't say what was on his mind at the moment, but Yuffie could see it in his eyes. He was starting to care for her more than he wanted to.

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Yuffie opened her eyes and looked up at the sheer white canopy over the huge bed. For a moment she pretended like this was _her_ place right here and not Lucrecia's. She didn't have to look over at Vincent to know he was still sleeping, his deep snoring was enough. She smiled to herself as she pinched his nose shut. Vincent batted her hand away from his face and rolled over close to her pulling her into his embrace. "Um… don't forget who's lying next to you." Yuffie didn't want to accidently be called Lucrecia in his half asleep state.

"Yuffie." He mumbled against her skin. Yuffie beamed and snuggled into his bare arms. The two were completely bare under the white sheets. Vincent didn't even feel guilty right now that he had slept with Yuffie in his wife's bed. Yuffie's eyes scanned Vincent's face, his bandana had come off some time during the night letting her see that horrible scar again.

"Can I ask you again, where that scar came from?" This time Vincent let her touch it. He sighed heavily opening his eyes he crawled over her looking her in the eyes. His hair fell forward almost forming a curtain around their faces.

"I used to be a Turk."

Yuffie's eyes widened. Her father being from Wutai and an ex soldier during the war between Shinra and the Wutai troops, never had any good stories to tell about the Turks. She brushed that off with a joke. "So that's where you get that ruthless, asshole attitude."

Vincent rolled his eyes. "Tell me where you get that obnoxious, bratty attitude?" A devilish smirk crossed his features as he climbed further on top of her and planted a kiss on her lips.

"Hey! I woulda been a princess, ya know! My dad gave up the throne to raise me when my mom passed away." Yuffie looked away. Vincent kissed her cheek.

"Princess…" he scoffed with a chuckle.

"Hey!" Yuffie pouted at him. His lips formed a thin smile before he pushed himself off of her, ready to change roles. Yuffie sighed. "That time already?"

Vincent stretched and stood up, sneaking the blanket around his waist as he did so. Yuffie's clothes were right beside the bed on the floor so she merely leaned over, picked them up and began dressing herself under the sheet that was left on the bed.

He found his keys to his old car and took Yuffie home.

"See ya at work, loser." Yuffie turned to him with a smile trying not to make the farewell an awkward one.

"Goodbye, brat." Vincent smiled at her, relieved that she had let him off this easy without making him explain himself or what his future intentions were. Because at this point he didn't even know. He watched her walk out of his view with a small smile on his face.

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Her flight home would be leaving in a few hours… Lucrecia sat on the edge of the bathtub staring at the two lines that would change her life.

**A/N: **Prepare for a twist! Mwahahaha…hehe


	11. Lies of the Worst Kind

The Business

(Chapter Eleven)

**Lies of the Worst Kind**

Vincent watched with a warm smile on his face as his wife ran towards him. He caught her as she dove into his arms. "Vincent…" she wrapped her arms tightly around his neck. She buried her face into his shoulder, closing her eyes. Those two lines flash through her mind again. Vincent attempted to let her go, but noticed she was still holding him close.

"Let's go home." He said softly, pulling away from her tight embrace. Lucrecia quickly snapped out of her daze.

"Oh! Right…" she smiled at him and turned back to the man with the cart full of her bags. "We've got it." She said. Vincent picked up two of her bags and she carried the third one as they went back to _her_ car. She turned to him in confusing. "I thought you didn't like driving this car." Vincent had never said anything about not liking her car. That was just her way around flat out asking him why he was driving it instead of his own.

"I had an accident in mine." He said nonchalantly as he opened the trunk to load her bags inside. She gasped looking him over.

"Were you hurt? When did this happen?" She was staring into his eyes with genuine concern, but Vincent couldn't bear to hold eye contact with her. His glanced into her eyes a few times while pretending to be totally absorbed in loading her last bag in the trunk.

"A little over a week ago… no I wasn't hurt." He slammed the trunk shut and touched the small of her back gently as he walked around her to the driver's side of the car.

"So… how was Wutai?" Vincent asked as he drove away from the airport. The silence in the car was too much and he didn't want Lucrecia's mind wandering.

"It was…" There they were again right before her eyes, those two lines… "uh…great! It was amazing. I took _so_ many pictures. I'll have to send some with you to work so you can give them to Yuffie. I want her to see how beautiful her homeland is." Vincent's stomach tightened at the mention of that name.

He smiled glancing over at her. "I'm sure she'll appreciate it very much." He looked back at the road, trying so hard not to appear tense. Lucrecia didn't notice, as she was doing the very same. She bit her lip as she stared out the window at the warmly familiar scenery on the way to their mansion.

Once inside, Vincent politely helped his wife unpack and made sure she was comfortable. He'd taken a full day off of work to be with her when she came home from her trip knowing that she would be jet lagged and possibly a little stressed. Lucrecia relaxed on the couch while Vincent brought her something to drink. Lucrecia took it from him with a smile and sat up so there was room for him to sit next to her. He took the spot and relaxed into the couch placing his arm behind her on the top of the couch. Lucrecia leaned into him, resting her hand on his thigh. "It's good to be home." She said.

Vincent let his arm slip off the back of the couch and wrapped it around her shoulders. He was used to her being in the mood for a little bit of intimacy when she first came home, but he knew this wouldn't last. Once things picked back up and there was another trip in planning, she'd be back to zipping around him without so much of a pat on the shoulder.

But then it happened… he felt her lips brush against his neck and at the same time, her hand moved up his thigh. Forgetting himself for a moment he turned and pressed his lips against hers in a forceful kiss. With Yuffie it was ok to be this way, that's another thing he liked about sleeping with her. He could be as rough as he wanted to be, and she'd like it and scream his name for more. Lucrecia on the other hand, has never been one for roughness and was a little taken aback by the kiss.

Vincent opened his eyes slowly staring into her wide ones. "I…obviously I missed you more than I thought." He smiled and moved away preparing to stand. Lucrecia grabbed his arm. He winced as he felt the pressure against his still sore bruises. She didn't notice and pulled at his arm, pulling him back down.

"Vincent… what do you say… we start… trying again?" Lucrecia asked with a convincing smile on her face despite the thoughts in her mind. _How could I do this to him?_ Vincent's eyes widened and he looked at her with disbelief. She gently kissed him again and Vincent held back his urges of just picking her up, throwing her down on the bed and making her see just how bad he'd been wanting her. Instead he let her take the lead and have her way with him.

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The next evening at work Vincent sat in his office wondering how he was going to get these pictures to Yuffie. He could just give them to someone else to give to her, but he wanted his chance to see her. He waited until after nine and pretended to be going to his car to get something. Since he was in his old car, no one recognized it so he parked in the employee parking lot instead of his VIP spot. He sat in his car with the door open, staring into the rear view mirror at the path Yuffie would have to walk to get to her car once she exited the building. He waited nearly ten minutes for her and then there she was. Marlene walked beside her of course and the two girls were laughing happily. Vincent sighed before slipping out of his car and walked up to the two girls. Marlene knew so he wasn't worried about her. He'd threaten her if he had to.

Yuffie's smile faded as she stared up at Vincent. She was a little leery to speak to him, wondering exactly what he was up to. You never could tell when he was going to be the cool, seductive, playful Vincent or the strict, stuck up, professional Vincent. Her suspicions only increased when she saw him pull an envelope out of his pocket. Her initial thought was 'Oh my God Lucrecia's back and he's firing me to keep from seeing me.' Vincent saw the look on her face and showed a small, but still cocky smile.

"Pictures from Wutai." He said simply. Yuffie slowly took the envelope from him.

"T…tell her I said thanks." Yuffie stumbled as she recovered from shock. Marlene leaned towards her as she opened the envelope. The first picture was of the Da Chao Mountains. Vincent glanced around the parking lot. All of the people getting off at nine were flooding out of the building and into their cars. A few of them shot odd looks towards him noticing him standing with two young girls. Vincent glared at anyone who dared make eye contact with him.

Yuffie and Marlene were too absorbed in the photos to notice any of the commotion. After the parking lot cleared, Vincent stepped towards Yuffie. He leaned down bringing his lips very close to her ears. "I need to speak with you."

Yuffie laughed nervously unable to believe he was being like this right in front of Marlene. Even she looked very uncomfortable. "I…do have a phone, ya know."

"I know. Be expecting my call tonight." He kissed her cheek first then her lips softly before grabbing her face and kissing her so hard she dropped the envelope of photos. Marlene quickly dropped to pick them up, needing something to distract her from what was happening before her eyes. Vincent broke the kiss and whirled around, walking back into the building with a face so serious you'd never even guess he had just ended an intense make out session.

Marlene stood as soon as he left. "Wow, Yuffie…"

"Yeah wow, I thought he'd be done speaking to me now that his wife's back in town. It doesn't feel as good when she's around. I get to feeling so guilty." The two girls walked towards Yuffie's car.

"What are you going to do?" Marlene asked as she sat down in the passenger side.

Yuffie sighed heavily. "I don't know…" That much was very true. She had no idea what was going to happen now. After dropping Marlene off, Yuffie laid in her bed staring at her cell phone waiting to see light up with a new call. She heard soft knocking at her door. "Come in."

Aerith entered the room slowly and sat down on the bed. Her belly seemed to have grown over night. It wasn't quite a beach ball yet, but it was noticeable. "Zack and I are going to Gongaga this weekend to visit with his family."

Yuffie nodded.

"Are you going to be ok here by yourself?" Aerith asked with a warm smile. Yuffie nodded again.

"If I get lonely is it alright if I invite Marlene over to stay?"

"Oh of course! Don't be silly. She's such a sweet girl."

Yuffie smiled she wondered if she could get her boss over here. Her smile turned into a naughty grin. Aerith nudged her.

"What, are you plotting to have that naughty boss of yours over here?" She covered her mouth and giggled. Yuffie couldn't believe she had read her mind like that.

"I doubt he would. His wife's back in town." Yuffie said with a sigh.

"Well be careful Yuffie. I don't want you to get hurt."

_Too late. I'm hurting right now._

/\

\/

Four-fifteen in the morning, Yuffie's cell phone finally rang. She quickly awoke and answered it.

"Hello?"

"Yuffie."

"Vincent?"

"Mm… Listen Yuffie, Lucrecia and I have been…_trying_ again."

Yuffie's eyes widened and there was a long pause. "I guess you won't be needin me then, huh." Yuffie tried not to sound too depressed. For his sake she should be happy he's getting what he truly wants.

Vincent sighed heavily and there was a lengthy hesitation on his end too. "It's not… the same."

Yuffie smiled. "Oh you like rough, huh? Lucrecia doesn't let you bang her like you bang me, huh?" She laughed to show she was just teasing him. Vincent hid his smile though no one was watching him.

"Mm."

"What if she gets pregnant?" Yuffie asked.

"She won't… I can't…" Hearing his sad tone made Yuffie frown.

"I'm sorry I said that."

"It's ok, Yuffie. Honestly I do not want kids."

"You should have married someone like me, I don't either." Yuffie laughed so he wouldn't take her seriously. Although she did wish it was her he was married to as high school girly it sounded.

Vincent sighed. "It was selfish of me to marry her. I knew I couldn't give her want she wanted the most, yet I was only thinking of myself and what I wanted."

Yuffie was a little shocked at how open he was being, but took advantage of it. She wanted to know just exactly where his head was right now. "Well, if it was really that big of a deal to her, do you think she would have married you?"

"She didn't know at the time of our wedding, Yuffie. And I pretended not to know, hoping that somehow despite the odds, I could still produce a child after the operations."

Yuffie shifted under her covers. She didn't know how to respond to that. Vincent however saved her from having to respond.

"I'm thinking about letting her go…"

Yuffie, despite wanting to jump up and down and scream YES, she pretended to be sad for him. "Oh…Vincent, is it really that bad?"

"Yes." He answered quickly. "I love Lucrecia, I do. But I'd rather her be happy with someone else and with children, than with me."

"Whatever the outcome is, Vincent you know I'm here." Yuffie said closing her eyes and letting her head sink into the pillow.

"I know…" Vincent whispered. The silence after was so long that Yuffie feel asleep again. Vincent stayed on the phone listening to her breath until he himself had fallen asleep in the chair in sat in.

/\

\/

The weekend couldn't come soon enough and Yuffie couldn't wait to put her plan into action. She came in on Saturday even though she didn't have to work and went straight to Vincent's office looking around carefully making sure no one else was in here before approaching Vincent at his desk. He wasn't expecting her so he didn't take his eyes off his computer. Anyone else knew not to disturb him. But as soon as he felt those hands on his shoulders he knew.

"Hey, my roomies are out of town this weekend." She said massaging his shoulders.

Vincent groaned in response.

"So, if you remember where I live, you can stop by for a little while if you want." She stopped suddenly making him looked up at her. He smirked then gave a nod.

"I'll be there."

"K. See ya later then." She winked at him before leaving his office. She made sure to twist her hips seductively as she did so. Vincent rolled his eyes at the seventeen year old, yet he couldn't say she didn't turn him on.

And he was there just like he said he'd be at ten thirty exactly. Lucrecia knew him to stay at the office until midnight or at the latest one in the morning so he didn't have to worry about being home late. Yuffie stood upon the balcony watching the driveway waiting for Vincent's old car. When she saw it she couldn't stop grinning. She knew he didn't know what apartment was theirs so she ran inside and down the stairs to meet him outside in the parking lot.

"Hey Vinnie!" she squealed jumping into his arms. He didn't hug her back, but simply pushed her away.

"Don't call me that."

"Why not?"

He grunted in response and waved his hand telling her to go ahead and lead the way. Yuffie did and soon they were alone in her small bedroom. Yuffie was used to seeing Vincent in bigger open places like his mansion with its high ceilings and huge rooms. Here in her tiny bedroom he looked almost like a giant. Vincent glanced around her room not surprised at all by anything he saw in it. She had just recently put up a huge Genesis poster up on her wall, which Vincent couldn't help but roll his eyes at.

"What are you rolling your eyes at, huh?" Yuffie asked as she crept up to him playing with the buttons on his navy blue dress shirt. Vincent's hands instantly went to his belt. He didn't answer her question, but instead focused on getting them out of their clothes. They collapsed on her bed, kissing passionately and hands roaming wildly. Yuffie screamed when he entered her, as he was a little early she hadn't yet gotten as wet as she needed to be to take him in like that. She quickly covered her mouth realizing they had neighbors.

"Sorry." He muttered slowing his pace. His hands slid up her stomach and cupped her breast. Yuffie moaned as he lay down on top of her, taking one of her nipples in his mouth, teasing it with his teeth.

"Oh…Vincent… oh please tell me you'll never stop this." She grasped a lock of his hair and pulled. He groaned, never knowing that he'd like having his hair pulled that way.

"I promise, Yuffie…" his whispered pumping harder as he felt himself coming close to his first climax.

/\

\/

Another two weeks later and Yuffie found herself sitting at the high school registering for her senior year.

"Ugh… I can't believe school starts next week!" Yuffie groaned as she and Marlene left MHS. Marlene smiled.

"I'm excited actually. I love school work! I've been so bored lately. Reno doesn't call as often as he used to. He says he's been taking on more hours at work to help pay for a new car."

Yuffie wanted to roll her eyes so bad, but she didn't. "Well, I guess that's a reasonable excuse..."

Marlene didn't respond.

/\

\/

Vincent returned home around ten thirty. He got a voicemail from his wife stating she had very important news to discuss with him. Vincent figured there would be divorce papers waiting there for him since she hadn't gotten pregnant. He found Lucrecia sitting on the edge of their bed holding a some sort of stick in her hands. Vincent slowly approached her.

"The important news?" He asked leaning against the pole of their canopy bed.

Lucrecia looked up at him. A tear trailed down her cheek. "I'm pregnant."

Vincent's eyes widened. "Wh..what?" he sat down next to her on the bed. She smiled and as she blinked two more tears trailed down her cheeks.

"I'm pregnant, Vincent."

"Uh…" He didn't know what to say all he could do was hold her as she cried. He believed they were happy tears, yet Lucrecia knew her tears were of sadness at how bad Vincent would be hurting when this child was born and he finds out it's not really his. She wanted to tell him now that she had gotten pregnant with another man's baby, but she just couldn't. She decided to prolong the bad news over the next nine months or year or however long it took before Vincent realized the truth.


	12. Goodbye

(Chapter 12)

**Goodbye**

Vincent stared at the pink piece of paper on his desk. Everyone knew what 'pink' meant in this business. He sighed heavily while tilting his head slightly. Maybe it would be easier if it were on a white piece of paper… He ran the paper through the copier on his printer onto a white sheet. He then folded the paper up and stuck it inside an envelope writing the initials Y.K. on the outside.

"From the president." The manager said tossing the envelope on Yuffie's desk. She only had about three minutes left until she could clock out. And dare she clock out a second earlier. Just yesterday she got an email from one of the managers about clocking out minutes early.

_Why would he…_ she thought as she opened the envelope and pulled out the notice. Her eyes went directly to the words 'Termination of employment' and that was all it took. She ripped off her headset and stormed out of the room shocking the other employees. Luckily the elevator doors were opening as she approached them because at her speed it seemed she would have busted through them. She crossed her arms and let out several deep breaths, biting her lips and telling herself over and over again that she wouldn't run up here crying. The doors opened and Yuffie heard conversation, but she didn't care. Her eyes were on Vincent.

Vincent stood there with a representative from another company also in fashion who was willing to pay MidgarFashions to sell their merchandise. Mid-sentence Vincent collapsed to the floor after a swift foot kicked him roughly in the male parts.

"Mr. Valentine?" The blonde man then looked at the petite little woman who caused his future business partner's agony. "Who are you?"

"The girl he's been fucking for the past three months and has suddenly decided to fire for no mother fucking reason!" The man's eyebrows rose and he began slowly inching towards his desk where he grabbed his briefcase before running out of the room.

Vincent was in so much pain he couldn't even react to what just happened. Bright green painted toenails slowly appeared inches from his face. His cheek was pressed against the cold marble floor. His eyes moved from the toenails, up two short legs and landed on a pair of green panties under the tan skirt that would have covered them at another angle.

"What the fuck is this?!" Yuffie threw the paper down at him. The corner of the envelope stabbed him right in the eye.

"Damnit Yuffie…" he grumbled as he slowly pushed himself off the ground. He wiped his eye a couple of times. Tears flowed out of his hurt eye.

"Well, what the hell is this for!? I fuckin need this job you asshole! I don't care what's going on with you and your wife. I'm about to make your life hell here any second if you don't…"

"Lucrecia's pregnant." Vincent said walking past Yuffie and grabbing a tissue from his desk. He wiped his eye several times while Yuffie just stared at him in shock.

"…How?" Yuffie was both shocked, heartbroken, and not to mention still pretty heated.

"Through intercourse, I'm assuming." He said casually as he turned to her leaning back against the desk and staring at her as if absolutely nothing was wrong.

Yuffie was ready to kick him again, and this time harder! Instead she tossed her head back and smiled. "You fire me and I'll tell her everything. I'll even tell her how you were talking about letting her go and that you didn't even want kids. If she won't believe me I've got the whole conversation saved in my phone!"

Vincent knew she was bluffing. Or at least he thought he knew… He smirked. "Nice try, Miss Kisaragi."

Yuffie pulled her phone out of her pocket Vincent watched, shifting uncomfortably as he watched her punch buttons. Suddenly the audio played _very_ loudly through the office.

"_I'm thinking about letting her go…"_

"_Oh…Vincent, is it really that bad?"_

"_Yes."_

Vincent lunged forward reaching for her phone. Yuffie ducked and slid between his legs before getting up running across the room. "Brat, give me the phone!"

"Fuck you!" she yelled.

Vincent growled and charged at her, he chased her around the room for a good five minutes before giving up. "Keep your fucking job, Yuffie. But let me warn you. You had better stay out of my sight unless you want bad things to start happening."

Yuffie walked right up to him, her phone tight in her hand. She grabbed the collar of his shirt with her free hand and pulled him close to her face. "Oh trust me, bad things are _going_ to happen Mr. _president."_ She spat before spinning around and leaving his office. She did a triumphant little skip as she approached the elevator. Though inside her world had just crumbled…

/\

\/

Although Lucrecia was barely considered pregnant just yet, she had already started her maternity leave. She was basically her own boss so it didn't really matter. Today she'd been digging through all of her old cook books trying to find a recipe for what used to be Vincent's favorite meal back when she used to do simple house work like cooking and cleaning. Lucrecia was actually a very good cook. She used to bake cookies or brownies and offer them to the poor sad Turk hoping to cheer him up. Of course it did _more_ than that and because of those little chocolate squares of heaven, he fell madly in love with her.

Vincent walked in the house looking as miserable as ever until… he sniffed the air. He had to sniff three or four times to make sure his nose was telling the truth.

"Welcome home honey! Dinner's on the table." Lucrecia giggled. "I always wanted to say that." Vincent smiled at her in her white apron. He walked up to her and placed a small gentle kiss on her lips before walking with her to the kitchen where a plate of amazing looking lasagna sat, steam swirling into the air.

"I miss having time to do things like cooking. I even did laundry today! Vincent did you know more than half of your shirts are missing buttons? I sewed new ones on them of course." She giggled again, truly excited about taking on the house wife role. While it lasted…

Vincent's eyes widened at first when she mentioned laundry. Not only were his shirts broken open and missing buttons, but most probably smelled like Yuffie. He sat down and began eating.

"So how was work today? Did your meeting go well?"she asked him sweetly.

Vincent did his best not to visibly wince. "It went fine, though I don't believe we'll be doing business together."

"Why? This was supposed to be such a great opportunity." Lucrecia was watching Vincent intently, but she still failed to notice his uneasiness.

"There will be others." He said softly before shoveling another fork full of food in his mouth.

/\

\/

The next Saturday night Yuffie stayed home and lounged on the couch watching TV. Cloud came over and was sitting in the chair next to her.

"Didn't school start for you too? Why are you still in Midgar?" Yuffie asked. They both looked like zombies, watching the TV screen through half lidded eyes.

Nearly a minute passed before Cloud answered. "I quit."

"Damn Cloud…"

"I know…"

Finally Yuffie took her eyes off the TV screen and looked over at him. It was like Tifa had drained all the color out of his life. To Yuffie his skin looked a little paler, even his bright yellow 'chocobo' hair seemed a bit duller.

"Your cell phone's ringing, Cloud."

Cloud fumbled around in his pocket for his phone, not the least bit in a hurry. "Hello?"

"Is it true you quit school for that little tramp!? What the hell is wrong with you? Don't you want a fuckin future?! Hell, all the money your parents saved to get you into that school…! You gonna let all that go to waste! You better tell me what I'm hearin is just a rumor!" Cid…

Cloud sighed. "I…just…"

"Just what!? Boy, you better get your mind right! Meet me at the bar tonight. You're gonna drink this bitch out of your system and get on with your life!" Cid hung up before Cloud could respond.

Cloud slowly closed his phone and put it back in his pocket. Yuffie heard Cid's loud voice all the way from where she sat.

"Care if I go with you? I need to drink someone out of my system too."

Cloud just nodded.

/\

\/

"Vincent! It's for you! It's Cid." Lucrecia barged into Vincent's study with the cordless phone. Vincent smiled faintly at his wife before taking the phone.

"Yes, Cid?"

"You comin out tonight? My nephew's goin through a hard time and life ain't been too peachy for yours truly either so us men are gonna drink ourselves blind tonight."

Vincent was actually into the idea. A drink is definitely what he needed after a day like today. "Sure, Cid. I'll be there. Will Shera?"

"No! Didn't ya hear me!? I said us _men_!"

Vincent rolled his eyes. "Ok, Cid."

"Alright bye!"

Vincent shut down his computer and stood up. "It's been awhile since I've attended one of Cid's guy's nights out…"

Lucrecia giggled at Vincent's way of getting her permission to go. "Go have fun, Vincent. You work too hard for me and soon you'll have a child too to look after, so have as much fun as you can now…" Her tone involuntarily saddened at the end of her sentence. Vincent cocked an eyebrow.

"Why so sad? Isn't this what you've always dreamed of?"

Lucrecia nodded eagerly. "Of course! It's just I know you're under enough pressure as it is with the company and all… and then a _child_."

Vincent smiled and leaned close to her, placing a soft kiss on her lips. "I'll be fine." He walked past her leaving her in the door way.

"_I hope so…_" Lucrecia mouthed to his retreating form. As soon as he made it around the corner, she dropped to her knees leaning against the doorway.

/\

\/

The bar was actually pretty busy tonight. Vincent groaned as he rolled into the parking lot full of cars. He liked it better when it empty. Cid was a really good listener when he had a few glasses of wine to calm him down. He was the only one Vincent really talked to about his problems, in detail.

Vincent got out of his car and squeezed into smoke filled bar. Cid wasn't hard to find. He was the loudest person in there at the moment. And he was holding Cloud's arm in the air waving it around. Cloud still looked like a zombie.

Yuffie said hunched down beside Cloud. She didn't really want to socialize with anyone. Especially the middle-aged men that filled this bar. She sighed and took another drag of the cigarette she wasn't supposed to be smoking. Suddenly her eyes landed on a familiar raven head. _No way…_ Yuffie hunched even lower. She knew the last person he wanted to see right now was her.

"Vincent! Here! Drink up!" Cid yelled handing him a tall glass of a surprise drink. He'd always had something new for everyone to try.

Cloud started to move, but Yuffie quickly clung to his shoulder. "Don't move!"

Cloud turned to her looking confused. He wasn't drunk yet so he quickly realized something was up. Yuffie whispered her secret in his ear. Cloud raised his eyebrows and sent a stealthy glance back at the dark man sitting two seats away from him.

After seeing Vincent, Yuffie knew she couldn't drink. She would get piss drunk and do something completely stupid not to mention embarrassing and she couldn't afford to be embarrassed in front of him. Instead she watched secretly as Vincent got _himself _piss drunk nearly stumbling off the bar stool once it was time to leave.

Yuffie followed him from a distance outside of the bar. Her eyes widened when she saw him attempt to get behind the wheel of his car. Against her bitter insides that wished he _would_ try to drive and get himself killed or arrested, she ran to his car and banged on the window.

Vincent rolled down his window as he looked up at Yuffie.

"What the hell are you doing?" Yuffie asked pointing to his car.

He blinked.

"Get out of the car, idiot, you can't drive like that. Are you stupid?" _Why do I care for him so much?!_ Yuffie looked away while she waited for Vincent to react. She jumped slightly as she felt a hand clumsily grasp her wrist. She looked down and saw Vincent staring up at her with that _look_ in his glassy eyes.

"Stop!" Yuffie jerked her hand away from him. Vincent finally opened his door and got out. He leaned back against his car feeling the ground spinning. Yuffie stepped back half expecting him to get sick.

Vincent took a few steps forward and engulfed Yuffie in a bear hug. Yuffie grunted, barely able to breathe in his tight grasp.

"Vincent?"

"Mmhm" He responded pressing his lips against her neck.

"Give me your car keys. I'll take you home." Yuffie felt him shake his head no. "Then what are you going to do? You can't drive, dummy."

"…your house." He mumbled, the first whole part of his sentence was completely incomprehensible.

"Are you sure?" Yuffie asked him. A smile crept across her lips although she knew this would be a bad idea. Vincent finally let her go and nodded again. So, Yuffie took his keys and drove his car back to her apartment.

"Shh! Shh!!!!" Yuffie knew Aerith and Zack were both asleep and Vincent's loud clumsy footsteps and incoherent moans weren't going to go unnoticed for too much longer. Finally she got him in her bedroom and pushed him onto the bed.

Vincent rolled onto his back and looked up at her. "Come here."

Yuffie shut her bedroom door and locked it before crawling on top of her drunken enemy-slash-lover. Looking down at him she just wanted to bite his face off and then maybe once he was less attractive she wouldn't have this problem. Vincent captured her mouth before she could do so.

"What about your pregnant wife?" Yuffie asked breaking the kiss.

"Ngh…"

Vincent caught her lips again, rolling the two over so that he was on top. Yuffie was still waiting for a better response, but it didn't look like he was going to give one. It was hard to believe that even as a clumsy incoherent drunk, Vincent was still amazing in bed. Yuffie laid next to him stroking his long hair.

"I'm sorry, Yuffie…" he said a little bit clearer than his previous attempts at speaking. Yuffie met eyes with him.

"For what?"

"I just am…" He hugged her close to him and closed his eyes.

/\

\/

"Zack… what's that noise?" It was around eight o'clock in the morning and Aerith sat in bed watching Zack dress for work.

Zack lifted his head and narrowed his eyes as he listened to what sounded like some sort of animal roaring. Zack walked to the door and Aerith followed suit. The two crept down the hall towards the sound.

"Is that Yuffie!?" Zack asked as they stopped in front of Yuffie's closed door where the sound was the loudest. It was now obvious to them it was someone snoring.

Aerith slowly opened the door and poked her head inside. Vincent was sleeping on the side closest to the door so he was the first thing she saw. His naked body was barely covered by the thin white bed sheet that covered him. Yuffie had stolen the heavier comforter for herself during the night to cover her head in an attempt to block out all the noise Vincent made.

"Vincent Valentine…" Zack muttered as he looked over Aerith's head into the room. "What the hell is he doing with Yuffie?"

Aerith glared at his sleeping form. She knew he was the reason Yuffie had been so depressed. Suddenly the cocoon comforter opened up and Yuffie popped out. She gasped when she saw her roommates staring at her bed buddy.

"Yuffie! Do you realize who this man is?!" Zack asked walking into the room. "He used to be one of the worst Turks in Shinra! Now he's the owner of MidgarFashions, manipulating that woman he's _married_ to by using her designs to make money."

That was one of the stories that were printed in the weekly tabloids.

Vincent woke up at the sound of Zack's voice. He glared down at the nuisance who had disrupted his sleep, then his eyes widened when he realized where he was. He looked back at Yuffie.

"Care to explain yourself?!" Zack asked crossing his muscular arms.

Vincent's head was pounding too hard for him to think straight. "Explain what?" He asked squinting his eyes in the light as Aerith walked into the room flipping on the light switch.

"Why you're screwing around with Yuffie? She's a good girl, and I don't want some creep like you taking advantage of her. Aren't you married?" Aerith clung to Zack, noticing how heated he was getting. Yuffie was the closest thing to a little sister he had and he intended to protect her.

"Good girl…" Vincent scoffed sitting up and pulling the blanket with him. His eyes scanned the floor for his clothes.

"Hey!" Zack started, but Aerith pulled at his arm.

"Stop, Zack." She said softly. Vincent looked up at her, she put him in mind of Lucrecia and not only that she was pregnant too. He slapped his forehead softly dragging his hand down his face. Finally his pants came into view. He stood, blanket covering him, and started collecting his clothes.

"Yuffie, you know better than this." Zack said focusing his attention on her. She looked down in shame. Vincent eyed her closely wondering what her response was going to be.

"I know." She said pulling her comforter closer around her. Vincent smirked. Once he picked up his clothes he left in search of a bathroom. Scared that he was going to leave without speaking to her, Yuffie got up and hurried past her friends.

She barged in on Vincent in the bathroom. He already had his pants on. She looked up at him with her wide curious eyes, desperate that he'd offer some sort of comfort to her.

"Don't look at me like that." Vincent muttered putting his shirt on. "It was a _mistake_ I was drunk." Yuffie started to kick him, but he was expecting it this time and grabbed her leg causing her to fall back and hit her back on the sharp corner of the cabinet. She cried out in pain.

"Asshole! I hate you! I wish I never ever met you! I hope you die!"

"We all will someday…" Vincent said sending her a smug smile as he finished buttoning up his shirt. He then turned on the facet and began splashing his face with water. Yuffie reared back and punched him right in the eye. Caught off guard, she then kicked him hard in the groin again sending him to his knees. She then delivered one final blow to his face with the hair dryer that was sitting on the counter top not far from her.

Vincent wiped his nose a few times and saw the blood on his fingers. _I deserved it. _He thought. He then heard Yuffie sniff. He looked up at her and saw the tears pouring down her cheeks. Finally she let her emotions go and began fully sobbing.

Vincent wiped his nose a few times before completely forgetting about himself and looking down at the girl in front of him that he'd been so brutally torturing emotionally. She began to sob so uncontrollably, she began hyperventilating. "Yu…Yuffie…" He touched her shoulder gently. "Don't cry."

Yuffie cried harder. Zack and Aerith had now began to knock at the bathroom door to see if everything was ok.

"She's fine!" Vincent yelled back. Yuffie looked up at him and shook her head no.

"Yes you are." He whispered to her pulling her into a hug. "I'm not worth all this, Yuffie. I'm not."

Yuffie squeezed him hard, digging her nails into his back. "I hate you so much." She cried.

"As you should." Vincent said giving a sideways nod and patting her back gently.

"But…at the same time, Vincent I…can't stop myself from…loving you." She looked up into his eyes. His reaction wasn't what she expected. He smiled and even chuckled a little.

"You're only a child, my dear. You don't understand that word love." He ruffled her hair lightly and let his hands rest on her shoulders. "What we have is an intense lust for each other. So strong that we both know that neither one of us is able to resist it. That's why I wanted to fire you. With Lucrecia being pregnant, I _can't_ continue to do this Yuffie, _I can't. _Don't you understand? I do want you, I crave you every moment of every damned day, but it's not love, its lust. And lust is not something you want to succumb to because it'll ruin your life." He spoke gently to her in a voice he barely even recognized as his own. But it worked as Yuffie calmed down and stopped crying. She looked up at him and gave a half smile.

"Well…good luck with your life, I guess." She said awkwardly as there really wasn't much else to say. Hearing a form of goodbye tore Vincent's heart a little bit, but he didn't let it show. He simply smiled and leaned down giving Yuffie a more innocent kiss on her forehead.

"I'm sorry I let lust get the best of me. I hope I haven't ruined your life, Yuffie."

She shook her head no although she knew he had. Or at least it seemed so at this point. Her heart ached at the thought of not being able to be close to him anymore.


	13. Denying Reality

**Denying Reality**

Months passed by quicker than Yuffie thought they would without him. She sat alone in the kitchen eating the last piece of her eighteenth birthday cake. Earlier today Zack, Aerith and the gang threw her a low budge surprise birthday party. Even Godo showed which surprised her the most. She put on a happy face for all of her friends, but she couldn't deny how sad she felt inside. _Why I'm letting that asshole ruin me like this. _She thought as she stabbed her white cake.

/\

\/

Vincent had celebrated his birthday a month earlier home with his wife. She personally baked him a cake and he showed her his appreciation by eating the entire thing in one night. She failed to notice him barfing up the entire thing in the early hours of the next morning.

Tonight it was back to the same work routine. Here it was nearing one in the morning and he still had twenty more orders to review and correct. The amounts of fraud orders had steadily increased of the past year or so and were at their peak now. This made Vincent think even harder about what Shinra could do if it turned its motives around to help fight crime on the Planet.

His tired eyes did a double take as he read the name on the next order. _Yuuri. _It read. He could have sworn he'd read the name Yuffie… He sighed loudly, disappointed in himself at letting such a thing remind him of her. Yet that didn't stop him from deciding to check up on her. He went to the email and began reading all the mail in her inbox and sent folder. He noticed all the happy birthday messages she'd gotten earlier that day. Before leaving the building that night, he secretly placed a small envelope under the keyboard of the desk she sat at.

/\

\/

Lucrecia hummed lightly as she brushed her long hair. Hojo was in town. He didn't come to Midgar often, and had only actually been to the MidgarFashions headquarters once. The doorbell rang and Lucrecia hurried to the front door. It was well past noon and Vincent was at work.

"What a beautiful home you've built here." Hojo said with a cackle as he hugged Lucrecia at the door. She smiled faintly, accepting his embrace. Hojo pulled away with a shocked expression on his face. "My dear… are you?"

Lucrecia nodded.

"How long were you intending on keeping this secret?"

Lucrecia looked away. She didn't know how Hojo would feel about having a child. How she wished she could forever pretend it was Vincent's… Regardless of how he felt, she knew he'd do his best to be the greatest father he could.

"I believe I asked you a question." She looked up at him almost puzzled. Never had he talked to her in such a tone.

"How in the world do you think we could raise a child? Times are critical! Your designs have grown so big! We are so close to achieving world success!" He looked as if he were on the verge of going insane.

Lucrecia was speechless for a moment, but found the right words. "For me… this _is_ world success." She said rubbing her stomach lightly. "But don't bother worrying about caring for the child… I'm married after all."

"M…married?!"

"Have you not read the headlines?" Lucrecia crossed her arms and looked past Hojo out the window. Perhaps he'd abandon her. That would make things a bit easier. All she would have to hope for was that the child came out looking more like her than anything else.

"How am I to believe every detail of that rubbish?" He did have a point. There were so many stories untrue stories about Vincent and Lucrecia in the news. As private as they tried to keep their relationship, that didn't stop people from talking. "Well do you love that man? Evidently you must not." Suddenly with a new threat facing him, his attitude changed. He moved towards her slowly, resting his hands on her shoulders. When she remained silent he continued. "I do apologize for my tone of voice, love. But you must understand I want to see you succeed. I've watched too many talented designers fall under because of personal matters like this."

She fell for his soft tone and let him embrace her again. "I'll ask you again, love. Do you love that man? And does he truly love you? ….or is he just riding out your success."

That thought never occurred to her. Vincent had created this empire seemingly for her, but she noticed that he did benefit from it just as much as she did. She immediately cancelled out that thought. There was no way Vincent was like that.

/\

\/

Yuffie smiled to herself as she sat alone at the table in the break room waiting for Marlene. She held the card Vincent had left for her in her hands. It was a company card usually filled with an apology or congratulations concerning matters with a customer's order. Instead, the blank card was filled with a short message.

_Think not that I have forgotten you, brat. _

_Happy Birthday,_

_Yours unfaithfully. _

"What's that?" Marlene asked leaning over Yuffie's shoulder.

"A note from the president." Yuffie couldn't stop the grin from spreading across her face. Especially at the 'yours unfaithfully.'

"So, he's talking to you again!" she whispered loudly. Yuffie nodded and focused her attention on the note again. Marlene grinned while she tugged at the chain necklace that was under her shirt. She slipped it out to reveal a ring at the end.

Yuffie's eyes widened. "A promise ring?!" Marlene nodded.

"From Reno!?" Yuffie's voice got higher and sharper. Marlene nodded again and began giggling.

"Maybe he has changed…" Yuffie muttered under her breath.

A strange looking man entered the break room that caught both girls' attentions. They were the only three in the room at the time which made it even more awkward.

A few minutes later, as Yuffie and Marlene were almost ready to go back to their shifts. Lucrecia walked into the room carrying a picnic basket with her. "My, it's about time, love. I do not believe I've had a moment to eat since I've arrived in Midgar."

Lucrecia failed to notice Yuffie in the room. "It's not like we can eat out in public."

"Wouldn't want your lovely husband catching wind of that, I suppose." He cackled. Yuffie and Marlene exchanged wide eyed glances before quickly making their way out of the room.

"Oh Gods! I've gotta tell Vincent! Like now!" Yuffie broke out into a run.

"Wait!" Marlene moved to follow her, but Yuffie was quick. She was to the elevator with the doors shutting in an instant. Yuffie couldn't even stand still on her ride up to the tenth floor, she was so anxious to tell him. Her heart pounded as she anticipated his reaction. Suddenly a huge realization hit her_… Vincent cannot have kids… Lucrecia goes away to Wutai for three months… comes home and a few weeks later… admits she's pregnant… Maybe it's not his!!_ Yuffie covered her mouth to prevent any audible responses to her sudden revelation.

The doors part and suddenly Yuffie couldn't find the strength to share what she'd just seen with Vincent. There he was working away for his lovely wifey. Yuffie just stood there in the elevator staring at him until the doors shut again and took her back down to her floor where she tried hard to focus on work for the rest of the night.

/\

\/

Vincent came home late at night to find his wife's car not there. First, he went inside and looked around the house just to make sure she wasn't there before he called her cell phone. He let it ring and ring and ring, but there was no answer. He sighed knowing how compulsive she was about work. She'd probably teamed up with some other designer and was with them working away on new concepts. He waited until nearly three in the morning for her to return, downing bottles of wine as he waited.

The next thing he knew he was relaxed on the couch unbuttoning the first few buttons on his shirt slowly as he waiting for _her_ to answer.

"Hello?" Yuffie's voice sounded hesitant. It wasn't like she was sleeping. How could she possibly sleep?

"Yuffie."

"Vi..Vincent…"

"Something the matter?" His fingers slowly continued to unbutton his black dress shirt. He leaned back further into the couch and kicked his feet up on the coffee table.

"No! Not at all. It's just… it's been so long since I've spoken to you…" She laughed softly. Vincent moaned softly at the sound of her laughter.

She laughed even harder. "I know what kind of mood _you're_ in." She bit her lip wonder whether or not she should crush this mood. Vincent gave a naughty chuckle. "Are you drunk?"

"Maybe… just a little bit…"

"Is your wife home?" Yuffie kind of felt relieved that he had been drinking. Now she didn't have to worry about telling him what she saw. There's no way she'd tell him like this.

"Uh uh… she didn't… come home." Yuffie couldn't help but to smile.

"You want me to come over?"

"Please?"

That's all Yuffie needed to hear before she hopped in her car and speed all the way out to the mansion. Knowing that Lucrecia could potentially come home at any time, she pulled her car around the back parking lot behind a boat they had attached to a trailer. She let herself in and smiled when she saw Vincent sprawled out on the couch, a naughty grin plastered across his face. She strutted over to him and took the half empty wine bottle out of his hand and placed it on a coaster on the coffee table. Hands pulled at her from behind and she turned around just in time to be scooped into his arms.

"Ya miss this?" Yuffie asked after pulling away from a passionate kiss. Vincent nodded eagerly and went in for more. Yuffie finished unbuttoning his shirt and threw it on the floor. She let her finger tips trace those familiar patterns of his muscular form. She did notice his midsection had gotten a bit softer. Just as she was about to say something about it, she was hoisted up into the air and on her way up a flight of stairs to the guest bedroom.

/\

\/

Vincent was the first awake again. He stared at the young girl, or should he say young woman lying next to him.

"Vincent!?" His eyes shot open and despite his throbbing head and weak body, he jumped out of the bed and quickly dressed himself in his pants and wife beater from the night before. Lucrecia knew he drank every now and then he could just tell her he got drunk and passed out in the guest bedroom. No big deal.

"Just a minute!" Vincent yelled out the door. Yuffie awoke at the sound of his voice. Vincent shushed her before she could even say a word.

"Honey?! Where are you?" her voice sounded dangerously close.

Yuffie, with her stealthy skills, grabbed her shirt and underwear before slipping off the bed and under it in seconds. Just as she did so, the bedroom door swung open and Lucrecia stood there looking a bit confused, holding his shirt that Yuffie had thrown off of him last night and left carelessly in the living room.

Vincent snatched the shirt from her a little too quickly causing her to shoot him a look. He couldn't risk her catching the scent of another woman on that shirt if she hadn't already. He smiled at her while putting the shirt on. "I'm sorry. I had a bit too much to drink last night. Without you home…" he trailed off hoping this would lead to her explaining herself. He would never come right out and bluntly ask her where the hell she'd been.

"Oh! There's a brilliant artist from Wutai in town and the two of us just got a bit carried away. We were literally drawing until we fell asleep. Needless to say my last two prints were worthless." She gave an extremely believable laugh; Yuffie had to give the woman credit. She rolled her eyes. She knew Vincent was so much smarter than this…

"I see…" Vincent nodded moving towards her.

"Are you just getting up? Would you like some breakfast?" She smiled up at him.

"Please." He said softly before quickly kissing her on the lips. As soon as she was out of the room, Vincent bent down and lifted up the skirt of the bed. Yuffie snaked her way out from under the bed and looked around the room feeling a bit uneasy.

"Don't worry I'm not going to throw you out the window." Vincent said with a smirk. Yuffie shook her head no.

"She's lying." Yuffie whispered.

"What are you talking about?" Vincent crossed his arms and moved closer to her.

"She's been seeing this weirdo _guy_. They even had lunch together the other day. She prepared a picnic basket for them and everything!" She whispered loudly. Vincent sighed and shook his head knowing where this was going.

"Yuffie… stop."

"Vincent! I wouldn't lie to you… I swear!" Her voice got a little louder than she meant, causing Vincent to shush her again. She stared up at him with her large eyes waiting for a response. He looked completely nonchalant as he sighed again.

"It's her responsibility to establish good relations with other possible business partners, Yuffie. I'm sure that's all it was. She is pregnant after all. What would motivate her to have an affair at a time like this?"

"What if the baby _is _his…" Yuffie had to look away for being so scared of how he would react.

"That's enough. As much as you wish I'd leave my wife for you, it will never happen, Yuffie." His tone had suddenly dropped threateningly low.

Yuffie glared up at him. "I wouldn't go there, Vincent. I'll run downstairs right now and expose both of you pathetic liars." She then laughed quietly. "Hey, you know what you two do go great together and I'm sorry I've gotten in the middle of it. So, from now on buddy you can count me out of it because I don't want to be a witness to the tragedy this is going to end in." She turned away to fish her shorts out of the bed sheets and pulled them on.

"You have no idea what you're talking about." He growled, crossing his arms.

"I know exactly what I'm talking about, Vincent Valentine. Live in denial all you want, you weren't able to give her what she wanted so she's getting it from someone else." Yuffie said snapping her neck at him as she got right in his face.

Vincent drew his arm back and slapped her. Yuffie's head jerked to the side, her hair flying in her face. She turned her head slowly looking back at him through the pieces of her hair. "Fuck you." She turned to walk out of the room. She knew the way to the back door without passing through the front of the house where she would run into Lucrecia. Lucrecia who was so absorbed in making breakfast failed to even notice Yuffie starting her car and driving out of their park way.

Vincent hurried downstairs looking around suspiciously. He jumped slightly when Lucrecia hugged him from behind and placed a kiss on his cheek. "Almost done."

He sighed with relief. "Good, I'm starving." He sat at the kitchen table watching his wife finish up breakfast. As much as he hated reality, he knew what Yuffie said was true… But he loved her! He took in every bit of her beauty as she would turn and smile at him in between her finishing steps. When the steaming plate of eggs, bacon, and pancakes were placed in front of him, he could hardly find the appetite to eat. Yet he forced it. What else was he to do? Thinking of a possible divorce, flashes of the media's cruelty went through his mind. Future headlines zipping past his closed eyelids. Lucrecia Crescent's name would be slaughtered. But did he really care?

"You know what, honey, I'm not very hungry after all." With that said he stood up quickly and left the house.


	14. A Media Frenzy

**A Media Frenzy **

Vincent's eyes opened slowly only to be squeezed shut once more as the bright sun hit his sensitive pupils. With his eyes closed he could have sworn the room was spinning. There was a loud knock at the door.

"Vince!? You alive in there?!"

Cid? Vincent turned away from the open window and tried opening his eyes again. A blurred image of his friend Cid stood over him, staring at him with concern. Another blond person walked into the room and it took a minute before Vincent recognized him as Cloud. He blinked a couple of times now able to see the two men clearly.

"How did I get here?" He asked sitting up in the bed.

Cloud and his uncle exchanged glances. "You came up to the bar last night and damn near drank yourself to _death_." Cid said adjusting the tooth pick in his mouth before crossing his arms and staring down at his friend for an explanation.

A string of recent events flew through his memory. "Shit…" he muttered dragging himself out of the bed.

"Care to explain yourself?! I'm sure the damn tabloids are gonna explain for ya anyway." Cid called down the hall as Vincent walked away. Vincent walked through the house as if he were in a trance. He wondered why they'd brought him all the way to Rocket Town. Shera wearily appeared at his side holding a steaming cup of tea.

"No thanks." He refused softly, not even looking at the woman. She hurried back into the kitchen leaving him in the living room alone with his friend.

"Well? You better start talkin', I ain't got all day."

"My wife has been having an affair."

Cloud who hung out in the hallway listened quietly. After speaking with Zack, he learned that Vincent had indeed been having an affair with Yuffie as well. He was sworn to secrecy though and couldn't say anything. He didn't want to sever ties with the president and lose his job anyways, now that he had decided not to go back to school.

Shera who knew about Lucrecia's affair, also stayed quiet in her place at the kitchen.

/\

\/

Aerith giggled and Zack placed his hand on her stomach. With only three and a half more months to go now, her belly was indeed protruding very noticeably. "That's my boy! He's gonna be a tough one just like his daddy." He said after feeling his son's kick. He lightly pressed back and received another kick. Aerith continued to giggle softly.

"It kind of tickles."

He laughed and put his arm around her. "Ya know, Aer… I'm not gonna lie, I was really worried there for a while. But I think it's gonna be ok. We can do this. I talked to the owner of the house today and he's willing to take a lower payment. We might be able to get moved in before the little guy's even born." He stroked her shoulder softly as he spoke.

Aerith smiled warmly. "That'd be nice."

Down the hall, Yuffie laid in her room trying not to listen to the happy couple. Though she was extremely relieved to see Zack calming down and stopping this whole doubting himself, it hurt being surrounded by happy people when you're feeling so low.

It was only eight o'clock in the evening. She didn't have to work tonight yet she still had no other plans. Marlene was out with Reno. Tifa had gone on back to school and Cloud out riding around on his bike. Since he decided not to go to school he took on the full time position at the warehouse and planned on moving into town.

Her phone rang, giving her a bit of a surprise. Marlene…

"Hello?"

"Oh my God, Yuffie come outside!" Yuffie sat up in her bed.

"Why, what's going on!?"

"Just come outside! I have to show you something! It's really bad, Yuffie…"

It was now the last week of November and getting pretty cold so she grabbed her jacket off the doorknob to her room and ran outside.

Marlene stood on the sidewalk holding a magazine in her hands. As Yuffie approached her, even under the streetlight she couldn't see the cover very well. "What is it?"

Marlene put the magazine behind her back. "Let's go inside."

Yuffie lead her friend into the apartment. Marlene smiled and gave a friendly nod towards the happy couple sitting on the couch in the living room.

"Hey Marlene how's it going?" Zack greeted her in his always friendly tone.

"Good." She answered quietly as they walked through the room and down the hall to Yuffie's bedroom. Marlene tossed the magazine on her bed face up.

Yuffie gasped. "Oh my God that's Vincent!!"

_Midgar Fashion's president caught in an affair._ The bright red headline read. The cover picture showed Vincent coming out of a bar, eyes bloodshot and glassy, holding hands with a blonde girl. She had her face turned up looking at the taller man. Therefore there was no way of telling exactly who she was from that angle, but she definitely wasn't Lucrecia. She wasn't trashy looking at all in fact she was nicely dressed in clothes that covered her well.

"What the hell is he doing?" Yuffie asked picking up the magazine and flipping to the pages where the full story was printed. There was another picture of the two inside. They appeared to be standing outside talking. Vincent's laid back posture and suggestive smile seemed to make the conversation look intimate. However the story went on to tell that they were seen entering different cars that had apparently been followed by paparazzi and found to have ended up in two different locations. In fact the car carrying Vincent was said to have left for Rocket Town.

"I don't know…" Marlene said. "Reno's waiting in the car…"

"Oh ok. Thanks for filling me in on this. …can't wait to rub it in his face tomorrow at work." Yuffie snickered. Marlene joined in on her laughter.

"See ya tomorrow at work then." She said as she left Yuffie's room.

Yuffie collapsed on her bed again staring at the pictures in the magazine. Part of this hurt her and the other part made her feel good knowing all the shit that was about to hit the fan. And that jerk deserved every bad thing that happens to him for hitting her like he did. The part that hurt her was the fact of knowing that even if he did leave Lucrecia there were still millions of women out there better than her that he could have. No matter how badly she wanted to deny it, she was still madly in love with that man and if he called her right now she'd be at the mansion in a second.

/\

\/

Vincent stayed in Rocket Town the entire weekend. Late Sunday night when he returned, he stayed in a hotel near the MidgarFashions headquarters and planned to go to work as usual on this Monday morning. The lobby was so silent you could hear a pin dropping as Vincent waltzed through the automatic doors. He could hear the lobbyist swallow hard as he breezed past her desk. She happened to have a copy of the tabloid sitting right on her desk in plain sight. Vincent didn't miss it, but didn't have a damn thing to say about it. The elevator doors opened and Vincent stepped inside not acknowledging the trembling manager. She just knew he must be terribly upset. Should she breathe wrong he may fire her.

The fourth floor couldn't come as any more of a relief to her as she hurried out of the elevator. Vincent watched her walk away. He almost felt bad for the torture he put these people through. _Almost_.

The doors opened again and now it was Vincent's turn to swallow hard. Lucrecia stood by his desk clutching one of the horrid magazines; tears were rolling down her rosy cheeks. Her hair that was normally pulled back neatly was all let down hanging in tangled masses that reached her waist. "How could you do this to me?"

Vincent sighed loudly. "Lucrecia… I…"

"I what?!" She threw the magazine down on the ground. "How could you embarrass me like this!?"

"First of all, that's not what it looks like." Vincent said picking up the magazine and looking at the pictures for himself. "I did not do anything inappropriate with that woman. She was merely assisting me in my drunken state."

Lucrecia only stared at him knowing that he couldn't stare her in the face for long if he was telling a lie. Vincent held her eye contact for so long it was hard for her to keep the truth from him. She had to turn away.

"You're the one with something to hide." He paused for a while before calmly announcing." I know about him Lucrecia and I know the child is not mine."

Lucrecia felt her heart shatter. She didn't want Vincent out of her life. As unhappy as she would have been without children she would be equally unhappy with Hojo. He was not at all the man she first thought he was. His only motive was to become a part of the empire Vincent had helped her create. He only wanted to use her she knew that. But Vincent was different… He truly loved her… and it broke her heart to know that she had ruined their love.

"Have you anything to say?"

Lucrecia closed her eyes and more tears fell. "I'm sorry." She opened her eyes again and spun around towards the door. "I'm so sorry." She ran out of the office and into the elevator. Vincent took his seat in at his desk and continued on with business as usual.

/\

\/

A week later Yuffie picked up another magazine at the grocery store with photos of Lucrecia being hauled away on a stretcher to the hospital. The story printed was that she had attempted suicide after not able to deal with her husband's dishonesty. Yuffie couldn't take it anymore and pulled out her cell phone to get a hold of the source of all this.

"Hello?"

Vincent answered quicker than she thought he would.

"Yeah… what the hell's going on?"

There was a long sigh. Vincent was at home in his study staring at the computer screen. He got up and laid down on the couch ready to tell all.

"It's not what it seems, Yuffie." He kicked his feet up on the armrest of the couch and sighed heavily.

"Then what's the deal?"

"The pictures in the magazine and the story behind it are a complete lie. The lady just happened to be standing nearby when I almost toppled over her in my drunkenness. She kindly helped me outside and made casual conversation with me while I waited for Cid to pull the car up."

Yuffie gave a sideways nod at this as it was believable coming from Vincent Valentine. Coming from anyone else it would have definitely been a lie. "What about Lucrecia? Did she really…?"

"I don't know." Vincent answered quickly. "I haven't seen her…"

"Oh…" Yuffie didn't want to press him further.

Vincent shifted slightly and groaned as he did so. When did life get so depressing? He wanted to doubt that Lucrecia would ever try such a thing, but from his recent discoveries did he really know her at all? "Would you… come over…?"

"Vincent… I honestly don't think now's a good time to be thinking about that." Yuffie said softly although her body violently disagreed with that comment.

"Just come over." He said hanging up on her. Yuffie sighed and sat her phone down. _Still an asshole. _Nevertheless, she got herself ready, packing a small bag with extra clothes for the next day, and left. Vincent left the gate open and the front door unlocked for her so she easily got in. After searching the house for him she finally found him laying on the couch in his study. His eyes instantly met hers as she walked into the room as she turned her back to shut the door Vincent quickly stood up and walked towards her. She turned around as gasped slightly seeing him so close. He wrapped his arms around her pulling her close.

"Vincent…" she whispered as he squeezed her tight. He didn't say anything, he would never have admitted it, but all he needed right now was a hug. A simple and silly as it sounded that's what he wanted. And he missed Yuffie and yet to apologize to her.

"I'm sorry I hit you Yuffie. You know I didn't mean to do that." He said pulling away and cupping Yuffie's face in his hands. "I just wasn't ready to accept the truth."

Yuffie smiled at him. How could she stay mad at him? He pressed his lips against her lips and then his body against her body backing her into the door of the study. Yuffie broke the kiss. "Just be lucky I didn't kick your ass ninja style, you asshole." She giggled.

Vincent chuckled and continued to kiss her. He was the next to break it. "I'm getting a divorce."

Yuffie couldn't hide her smile. Vincent noticed this and showed her a smirk. "…and moving to Nibelhiem." Yuffie's smile dropped and she stared at him in disbelief.

**A/N: **After writing this chapter I realized that I should probably look at a map to see like where all these towns and cities are actually located and I'm aware that you couldn't reach Rocket Town in a car from Midgar realistically, but in this slight AU let's pretend you can lol!.


	15. One Life Lost Another Gained

**One Life Lost Another Gained**

Yuffie tossed out the last empty cardboard box, dusting off her hands. Moving was so exhausting! Two months ago Vincent had done the very same thing. However his move was much lighter… A few outfits, his guns, and a box full of paperwork was all he brought with him. He used what little money he had left over after the divorce and bought himself a double wide trailer and a small lot right outside the town of Nibelhiem to live on.

Yuffie made her home with Zack and Aerith in a cozy three bedroom three bathroom home closer to the heart of Midgar. They no longer lived in the area called East Midgar. Though her friends seemed completely content with her staying there, she felt like she was intruding a bit so she stayed away hanging out with Marlene and Reno. She tried calling Vincent several times but he never answered. Lucrecia had not been doing well in her later stages of pregnancy and the last Yuffie heard they were going to be taking the baby much earlier than it was due. Aerith on the other hand was two days past her due date.

Yuffie passed by her miserable friend as she lay on the couch rubbing her over swollen stomach. "You water break yet?" She asked cheerfully on her way past the couch.

"Uh uh…" Came Aerith's weak reply.

Yuffie gave her a reassuring smile. "He'll be here soon."

"Gods I hope so!" Zack said as he came out of the kitchen with a plate of food for his pregnant girlfriend. These last few weeks had been very trying on them both. This is what made Zack the happiest that Yuffie was around because he could leave when it became too much and know his girlfriend would be well taken care of.

"Zack! I can't eat anything greasy…" Aerith whined waving the plate away and turning her face to cry into her arms. Zack sighed loudly and looked over at Yuffie for help. Yuffie shook her head and went back into her bedroom. She flipped turned on her tiny TV and squinted to read the small writing flying across the bottom of the screen.

_Designer Lucrecia Crescent pronounced dead this afternoon due to complications during the birth of her first child. _

Yuffie's jaw dropped and she flew at the TV waiting for the marquee to repeat itself. She couldn't believe what she was reading! Her heart sunk knowing Vincent would be crushed…

/\

\/

He didn't want to feel sad. He should hate her. Especially now… How could she? Why couldn't she have rejected him from the start he never deserved her anyway! This was not _not_ his fault! But yes it was… The next day brought more details about her death. She'd been under too much stress… and there's a reason why they tell pregnant women to relax. Was he the cause of all of her stress? He believed so.

He sat inside his dark room alone unsure of even how he should begin to mourn. He couldn't remember the last time he cried. In fact he had himself convinced he did not know how to cry. Tears never changed anything anyway. He wondered if Lucrecia could see him. Was she disappointed in him? Relieved for him? He couldn't even say he knew her anymore after what she'd done. His cell phone flashed for the tenth time tonight. He knew Yuffie only wanted to comfort him, but he didn't want to talk to anyone right now.

Days passed and it was now time for the funeral. Vincent wasn't going…

/\

\/

Yuffie stood in the bathroom removing the stray lint on her black skirt. He just _had_ to go to the funeral, Yuffie was positive he'd be there. The lint roller slipped from Yuffie's hand as she heard a loud groan coming from downstairs. "Aerith!?" Yuffie called down the stairs.

"Yuffie! Call Zack! My water just broke and now I'm having contractions." Aerith slowly made her way up the stairs and into her bedroom to get a clean pair of pants to put on to ride to the hospital in. Yuffie was panicking almost harder than Aerith. Not only was one of her best friends about to give birth, she was going to miss the funeral! And miss her chance to finally see _him._

But she couldn't think about him right now! "Zack hurry! Your sons coming."

Zack didn't even reply. He hung up the phone and was at the house in less than 8 minutes. Yuffie looked back at the clock before leaving the house. The funeral would start in an hour… Nevertheless she hopped in the back seat of Zack's car and went with her friends to the hospital.

While they got Aerith settled in the delivery room, Yuffie waited out in the waiting room watching the clock. That was it, she made up her mind. She'd only be gone a few hours and would come right back. With no hesitation she ran out of the hospital and caught a cab outside to the funeral home. All employees from Midgar Fashions were invited so she wouldn't look odd or out of place for going. She chewed away at her freshly painted fingernails not even minding the harsh taste of the polish she was so nervous. Seeing the number of people who turned out for the occasion made her even more nervous.

Just when she thought she was going to chicken out on entering she saw a familiar blonde head. "Cloud!" She yelled getting out of the taxi. She turned briefly to pay for the tab before running to her friend.

"Yuffie, what are you doing here?" he asked. He cleaned up very nicely. If only Tifa could see him like this. Yuffie straightened his tie and smiled.

"Hey I work there too ya know."

He nodded. "Uncle Cid and Shera didn't take it too well. And now Mr. Valentine's disappeared too."

Yuffie's smile faded at the mention of Vincent. "Yeah… I can't really see him dealing with this publicly. Especially after all the scandals and rumors lately."

Cloud somber demeanor was right for a funeral, but Yuffie knew Lucrecia's death wasn't the reason he was this down. He still hadn't gotten over Tifa. She didn't mention her to him, though, but simply entered the church with him and sat with him, his uncle, and his aunt. It was a relatively short funeral. Being that the death had taken place so suddenly, there wasn't much prepared to say. Her remaining family members choice to stay silent because their blame was on Vincent. Yuffie's eyes scanned the place several times, but there was no Vincent in sight. She could always sense when he was around, and she didn't even _feel_ his presence there.

Suddenly she felt her phone vibrating in her clutch purse.

_Yuffie where are you? Please come help calm Aerith down._

Yuffie tapped Cloud's shoulder unable to believe she hadn't told him the news yet. "Aerith's having her baby right now." She tilted her phone towards him so that he could read the text.

/\

\/

Vincent flew into Junon and hoped on a train that would take him to Midgar. He sat down next to a familiar looking woman with long brown hair. She had to do a double take when she finally noticed him sitting there. To her surprise he smiled.

"Mr…."

"Shh.." he said not wanting to draw attention to himself. Even though there were only seven other passengers on the train and none of them looked like they had any interest in what was going on in the media.

"Sorry."

"Tifa Lockhart, isn't it?" he asked quietly. She nodded unable to believe he remembered her name. He honestly wouldn't have if it hadn't been for those few talks with Cloud. He even heard Cid talking about her once. Of course he had nothing good to say about her since she was the one who left his poor nephew so heartbroken.

"I don't suppose you're heading to the funeral… it started an hour ago." He commented softly. She shook her head no.

"One of my best friends is in labor right now. I just want to be there to celebrate." She smiled brightly. Vincent sighed softly.

"The girl that Yuffie stays with… am I right?" He once again surprised her. She never knew him to be a man so in touch with other's lives. She nodded.

"How is Yuffie?" he asked almost without thinking.

Now she was starting to get suspicious. "She's… well actually I haven't seen her in a while. I haven't talked to any of my friends here that often since Cloud and I broke up. They are all so determined to get us back together. What do you know about Yuffie?"

Vincent looked down. "What don't I know about her…" he muttered instantly hoping she didn't hear that.

Tifa's eyes widened. "Were you… did you guys… ??" She trailed off hoping he got her point.

Vincent saw no use in lying now. "We did several times and I don't regret a single one of them." He spoke so calmly as if that were the most natural thing to say.

"What about your wife?"

"She was off doing the same. A pleasant marriage we had. The child wasn't mine either. It would have belonged to the other man." He was surprised she didn't already know about his and Yuffie's affair. Yuffie couldn't keep a secret to save her life.

"Oh…" Tifa looked away sorry she pried.

"What about you? Can you really continue to hate him?" Vincent didn't need to be specific and say his name Tifa caught on to what he was talking about.

"I could never hate Cloud. I just hate loving him…"

Vincent didn't say anything more. His silence was enough to allow Tifa to fall asleep for the remainder of the trip. When they arrived in Midgar she was surprised to see him follow her into a cab and continued with her through the hospital.

/\

\/

They were down to the final pushes in the delivery room. Aerith screamed and threw her sweaty head back on the pillow. "I can't…"

"Yes you can, babe. He's right there!" Zack encouraged keeping a firm hold of her left leg.

"One more strong push, Aerith." The doctor said he literally had his hand on the top of the baby's head. Aerith took a few more deep breaths and delivered a mighty push.

"Happy Birthday!" The doctor cheered as he pulled the crying young baby boy out of his mother's womb. Tears streamed down Aerith's face as she let out a few laughs of relief. Zack was in complete shock, but quickly composed himself enough to go over and cut the cord.

Yuffie stood outside but quickly went in with one of the nurses assistance waved her in. She couldn't help but smile when she saw Aerith there holding her just born baby boy. "What's his name?" she asked.

Aerith looked up at her man lovingly. "Zachary." Zack beamed at the name choice. It was his first choice, but at first she had turned it down wanting something different. Two more sets of footsteps caught everyone's attention. One quick, while the other was more hesitant. Tifa flew in and whipped out her camera immediately taking pictures. Vincent stood in the doorway cringing at the scent of hospital. Yuffie caught his silhouette out of the corner of her eye and almost fainted.

"Vincent?"

He motioned for her to come outside the room. She followed and stared up at him in awe.

"What?" he asked smirking. That only shocked her more. Wasn't he devastated about his wife's death!? Even if they were divorced…

He closed the distance with her and placed his lips against hers. "Don't stare at me that way." He said gingerly touching her cheek.

"Why weren't you at the funeral?"

"I didn't belong there." He answered simply.

"Aren't you upset?"

"I'm regretful at how things had to unfold, but I can't say that I'm truly sad." He answered honestly. Regret and guilt were his biggest problems right now, sadness not so much. How could he miss her now after what she'd been doing to him.

Yuffie smiled and tackled him with a hug. "I was so worried about you! Why didn't you answer my calls, bastard!"

He smirked. "I didn't need your sympathy or your concern." His posture carried that arrogance that never failed to annoy her. She rolled her eyes and looked back into the room where her friends were rejoicing. Vincent looked also finding it hard not to smile at the priceless moment. It almost, _almost_ made him wish he could still have children. He put his arm around Yuffie as the two stood in the doorway together.

"Why'd you come back?" she asked quietly.

"I do believe I left some unfinished business behind here…" a small grin formed on his lips. Yuffie looked up at him with disbelief. His hand slid down her back as he released her and began to walk away. Yuffie took one last look at her friend and the baby before chasing after him.

"Unfinished business?" she asked trailing after him. Vincent didn't reply but continued to smile with his back to her as he walked out of the hospital with a confused Yuffie behind him. "You mean now?"

Vincent stopped once they got outside and turn to her. "No… not now. I won't, I can't continue to ask that of you."

"Oh…" Vincent was surprised to see her look down in disappointment. He touched her shoulder lightly and smiled at her.

"You may find this hard to believe, but I do care a lot for you." He said softly. Yuffie smiled and leaned against him.

"I'm still madly in love with you, Vince." She said with a laugh. "No matter how much of an asshole you are."

He chuckled. "Well I'm glad." The two embraced each other closely. He sighed softly after breathing in her sweet scent. "…because I love you too."

Yuffie's eyes widened.

He squeezed her harder. "But Yuffie, I want you to stay here until you graduate high school."

"That's like three months away!" she complained staring up at him. He rolled his eyes.

"Send me an invitation to your graduation and I'll be here." He pulled away from her and waved down a cab. He would stay the night here in Midgar, but he didn't want to stay with her. He was a little bit too emotionally unstable to be sleeping with her right now. He did want to see the grave of his late ex wife and he already planned on confronting Hojo.

Yuffie nodded and watched him get into the taxi cab. He waved at her through the window as he shut the door and was gone. She stood on the street waving until she could no longer see him.


	16. Epilogue

(Chapter 16)

**Epilogue**

Blue caps and tassels flew into the air as the crowd cheered. Yuffie hadn't seen him yet, but she could feel his presence there somewhere. She and Marlene embraced with tears in both of their eyes. Denzel stood nearby smiling at his younger sister lovingly. Their father's health had worsened and he wasn't able to appear in person so he held a video camera in his hand catching every moment for him. Reno also didn't show…

Still a scandalous name in this town, Vincent remained disguised in a dark blue baseball cap and a dark blue T-shirt to match. Not everyone was dressed up for the occasion so he didn't look anymore careless than the average Joe. Watching the entire ceremony, Vincent couldn't tear his mind away from the baby picture they showed of Yuffie. She would have to have been the cutest baby a parent could ever ask for. It saddened him for the first time in his life that he wouldn't have the opportunity to produce such a thing. His somber demeanor caused the nearby spectators to slightly scoot their chairs away from him and whisper amongst themselves, but he didn't care.

The newly graduates began to disperse and drift away with their family members. Vincent spotted Yuffie hugging her father. He wondered if this would be a good time to introduce himself. He had made up his mind over the past three months that he would indeed commit to Yuffie. She deserved _that_ much at least. Whether or not it worked out in the future was irrelevant as far as he was concerned.

Hesitantly, he rose from his chair and started towards her.

"I am proud of you, Yuffie…" Godo murmured into her ear as he held her. Yuffie nodded into his shoulder knowing how hard it was for him to admit that. As soon as she broke away from the embrace the first thing her eyes met was his. Under the disguise no one else had eyes so intense. Vincent confidently stepped up to the father and daughter and reached for Godo's hand.

Godo's head shot up looking at the taller man next to him; confusion written all over his face.

"Vincent Valentine." He all but whispered.

"Godo Kisaragi…" he looked back at his daughter. Yuffie beamed but didn't say a word.

Vincent took his spot next to her and gently intertwined their fingers. "Would it be convenient for me to join you for dinner tonight?"

Godo just nodded. He knew exactly who Vincent was and how powerful he had been at one point so confronting him rudely as to what he was doing with his daughter didn't seem like the best idea right now.

/\

\/

Dinner took place at Zack and Aerith's place. Both Zack's and Aerith's parents were in town visiting with their new grandson so having Godo at the dinner seemed less awkward. Young Zachary already had a full head of black hair like his fathers and bright expressive green eyes like his mother. Being around him made Vincent feel even more depressed about his inability to reproduce.

After eating he pulled Godo outside to talk.

Godo glanced up at him nervously. 18 years of raising a female had taken such a toll on the once fearless leader of Wutai.

"I do not know if Yuffie ever said anything to you about me… but she and I…" There was no way he was about to tell Yuffie's _father _that he had been using his daughter for sex while he was married. "..have always had a connection."

"Yuffie doesn't talk to me." He said regretfully.

"Even so, you are her father and you have the right to know. I'm going to ask her to move with me to Nibelhiem. I know she says she's interested in becoming a nurse. They have a small nursing school there that I'm sure she'd get into."

Godo simply nodded. "I've gotten her this far…"

"I'll take good care of her."

He looked up at Vincent with eyes very serious. "Please do. Her mother would never forgive me."

Vincent smiled and even let a chuckle slip. _Even in death women still manage to control their men…_

/\

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"Yuffie." Vincent said as he walked into her bedroom. She sat on the bed reading text messages from Marlene on what they were both going to do from now on. He shut the door behind him. She tossed her phone behind her ready to give him all her attention.

"Yes?" she seductively ran her fingers down his black dress shirt as he sat down next to her. His slender fingers clamped around hers instantly throwing them aside. She pouted at him, but he replied with a serious face.

"Would you want to move to Nibelhiem with me?"

Yuffie laughed. "Are you seriously asking me?! Hell yeah! I mean sure I'm gonna miss my friends and all, but Vincent I've been going batshit crazy without you!" she grinned at him and pulled him by his hair for a kiss. He granted her with a light kiss but looked at her seriously again.

"I've researched the nursing school they have there. Though there aren't many students, it's one of the best on this continent." He said.

"Really? Vincent you've actually been thinking about me?" she asked with sincere surprise written all over her face. He rolled his eyes.

"So are you coming?"

"Duh! When are we leaving?"

Vincent looked away already her scent, her smile, and the fact he hadn't seen her in so long was getting to him. "I would have said tonight, but…" he turned to her with a seductive half smile. He didn't even need to finish the sentence before Yuffie started kissing him. Her taste was enough to make him loose control. He groaned almost threateningly as he climbed on top of her letting his hands undress her involuntarily as he continued to cover her face in passionate kisses. Yuffie's quick fingers had his shirt unbuttoned in seconds. He threw his shirt off and nearly ripped off the wife beater underneath. This time he decided not to go straight for the kill but teased her a bit with his fingers and then did something he had never once done for her before.

Yuffie stifled a moan as she felt his warm tongue against her sensitive area. Vincent found himself painfully aroused as he watched her react to his performance. Once she came he could have sworn he was the hardest he'd ever been in his life. Yuffie, who could have practically read his mind, knew it was her turn. They switched places and now it was her pleasing him. As aroused as he was it didn't take too long for him to come spilling out into her mouth. Yuffie smiled as she licked the remains off her lips and climbed onto his lap taking a hold of his member stroking it a few more times before guiding it in to her. Vincent held her hips as she bounced up and down on him. "Oh Vincent…" she murmured as she leaned forward grabbing handfuls of his hair. After that Yuffie turned around and bent over for him shooting him a seductive look, knowing this was his favorite position. He gladly took his place behind her. The two continued making love until it was three o'clock in the morning. Yuffie laid next to him running her fingers down his sweaty chest. He kissed her forehead and closed his eyes. Yuffie tilted her head up to place a goodnight kiss on his lips.

"Goodnight." Her sing-song tone was just above a whisper.

"Goodnight, Yuffie." He gave her a tired smile.

One thing about their night hadn't changed. He was the first as usual to fall asleep. Yuffie just shook her head and rolled away from him. But at least she didn't have to worry about waking up and switching roles again. She no longer had to stare at someone else in envy of what they had because he was hers now.

/\

\/

Yuffie indeed moved in right away. Living with Yuffie was much harder than Vincent initially imagined and vice versa. He could never understand in the small amount of time she spent in the house how destructive she could be. And Yuffie never understood his anal personality either.

"What's the use of making the bed when you're just gonna come home and mess it up all over again?" she huffed as she threw the comforter over the bed clumsily. Vincent signed and straightened it out without a word. He had learned it was useless to argue with her. _Just let her believe she's right._

"Hey I think we need a pet! Like a cat or a small dog or both!" she cheered. Vincent's eyes widened but his back was to her. _An animal and Yuffie!?_ He turned to her with a small smile.

"Are we not getting ahead of ourselves? I can barely manage taking care of a Yuffie." He teased. She pouted and threw a pillow at him, ruffling the comforter again. Vincent wacked her forcefully in return with the same pillow, then turned to straighten it out _again_.

"Asshole!" she spat with a smile on her face. She wrapped her arms tightly around his waist. "I think you're doing an amazing job."

He squeezed her in return. "I hope so…" he whispered to her. He buried his face into her neck and closed his eyes.

"I'm glad to be doing business with you."

Vincent opened his eyes and laughed softly. "I must say you've made the best business partner I've ever had."

Yuffie giggled. "Thanks boss."

**THE END**


End file.
